Technology Available for Licensing

Case 12387

Superhydrophobic Nanomaterials for Oil Spill Cleanup

Keywords:

Nanostructures, Surface wetting

Applications:

Removal of contaminated oil or organic spills on water, or water droplets in oils

Problem:

The creation of large-scale free-standing structures for practical applications

Technology:

The invention includes a simple and rapid approach to controlling surface wetting, based on self-assembled free-standing structures of ultralong manganese oxide nanowires. The nanowire assemblies, composed of micro- and nanoporous structures that span multiple length scales, exhibit a remarkably superhydrophilic response. When coated with a thin layer of hydrophobic molecules, the nanowire assemblies become superhydrophobic. The assemblies of this invention are useful in various applications, including removal of organics or hydrophobic materials, and waterproofing application.

Advantages:

• Cost-effective fabrication
• High surface area
• Thermal stability
• Self-supporting structures
• High uptake capacity

Inventors:

• Professor Francesco Stellacci(Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)
• Professor Jing Kong(Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT)
• Dr. Jikang Yuan (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT)
• Dr. Xiaogang liu (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT)

Intellectual Property:

US Patent Application Number 12/445142, filed on December 22, 2009

PCT Patent Application Number US07/021569, filed on October 9, 2007

Publications:

N/A

Please contact: Catherine Ives MIT Technology Licensing Officer 1 Cambridge Center, Kendall Square, NE18-501 Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142-1601

Email: cives@mit.edu Tel: 617-253-6966 Fax: 617–258-6790 Website: http://tlo.mit.edu