In hopes of limiting the disastrous environmental effects of massive oil spills, Materials scientists from Drexel University and Deakin University, in Australia, have teamed up to manufacture and test a new material, called a boron nitride nanosheet, that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in oils and organic solvents—a trait that could make it an important technology for quickly mitigating these costly accidents.

Read the full press release here.

Congratulations to DNI alum and former Humboldt Fellow, Prof. Bastian Etzold, who since Dec. 1 has started as full professor for chemical technology at the Technical University Darmstadt. He also was successful with attracting an ERC Consolidator Grant, a very notable accomplishment. Congratulations to Bastian!