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Sponge-Like "Swelling Glass" Absorbs Toxins in Water

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hungry-like-the-sponge dept.

MikeChino writes "A company called Absorbent Materials has created a new kind of 'swelling glass' that can clean up contaminated groundwater by soaking up volatile molecules like a sponge. Dubbed 'Obsorb,' the material can hold up to 8 times its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents without sucking up any of the water itself. Once the material is full it floats to the surface and the pollutants can be skimmed off."

4 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Spelling? by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Informative

    TFA refers to the material as Obsorb, but a linked page refers to it as Osorb.

    So which is it?

  2. Re:And after absorbing all that gunk... by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nah, it was stupid. It's just that I wasn't the only stupid person here.

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  3. Re:Is there any there, there? by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should sprinkle a few hundred tons on Wall Street. Imagine all the scum they could soak up there!

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  4. Re:Really short on details. by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Google is your friend. Apparently, this all centers around the use of zero-valent iron (which seems to merely be atomic iron without any binding).More info here: http://www.clu-in.org/download/remed/542-f-08-009.pdf Warning: PDF. Apparently, this is a hot topic, and Osorb isn't the only material out there using nanoZVI for cleaning purposes.

    Interesting stuff. Hadn't heard of it before.

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