At the time of spills, marine flora and fauna may come into contact with the oil, wreaking major damage. Underwater oil-repellent technology can potentially prevent the toxic effect of oil on marine ecosystems.
Lead U of A researcher Sushanta Mitra and his team members Prashant Waghmare and Siddhartha Das used surfactants, a key ingredient in soaps and detergents, as a way of making an underwater glass surface repel oil. The researchers propose that making use of this simple principle, large concentrations of surfactant can be added to oil-contaminated water, thereby ensuring that marine plants and animals exhibit similar oil-repellent characteristics and enabling them to overcome the deadly consequences of an oil spill.
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