Oil from water

US engineers at Purdue University have created a new type of membrane that separates oil from water.

The amphiphilic membrane consists of a layer of polyethylene glycol tipped with a Teflon-like functional group made with fluorine.

Water molecules are attracted to the polyethylene glycol, yet pass through the Teflon-like layer, which acts as a barrier to the oil molecules.

Researchers attached the material to a glass filter, commonly used in laboratory research, to test out its effectiveness.

Taking mixtures of oil dispersed in water and running them through the filters, they found that they could achieve 98 per cent separation.

Jeffrey Youngblood, an assistant professor of materials engineering at Purdue University, said: ‘To clean up an oil spill, for example, you could run contaminated water through a bunch of these filters to remove the oil.’