Innovation Pipeline

Chemists are the latest stars in the emerging field of cleantech. They’re work of note is concocting a new generation of chemicals that are less harmful to the environment. University research labs are also developing new combinations of chemicals as part of this green chemistry shift.
Purdue University researchers recently announced an eco-cleaner that can remove oil stains but does not pose the risk to the environment or people that existing products do. The new chemical can also be used as a coating for glass, plastics and a range of other materials that would permit consumers to easily wash away troubling oil stains.
These polymer coatings — which are about 20,000 times thinner than a human hair — are made of a bottom layer of polyethylene glycol, which attracts water, and an upper layer of a Teflon-like molecule that prevents the passage of oil. The combination results in a surface that holds a film of water while repelling oil.

The materials could be used in a range of consumer and industrial products, including household cleaners, easy-to-clean paints, water filters that separate water from oil, sealants for concrete floors, and walls that repel oil in home garages and auto repair shops.
The new coatings would also reduce use of phosphate detergents that are commonly used for cleaning clothing. Those phosphates end up in lakes and oceans, where they stimulate algae blooms that deplete oxygen in the water and create large dead zones.
These material research efforts have been underway at Purdue University for the past few year, where scientists have been working to engineer the durable membrane material made of modified polyethylene glycol that attracts water molecules but traps oil molecules. (See “Material Elixir for Oily Water”) –Lee Bruno