Chinese researchers have created a groundbreaking new material derived from moss that could significantly improve how we manage oil spills. A team from Guizhou Education University has modified sphagnum moss to absorb oil effectively while repelling water—offering a powerful new tool in environmental protection.
Oil spills, often caused by damaged oil rigs or burst pipelines, can devastate marine ecosystems and pose serious health risks to humans. Cleanup efforts can stretch over months or even years, underscoring the need for fast, efficient, and sustainable solutions.
To address this challenge, scientists have experimented with bio-based absorbents like cotton and fruit peels. While these materials are inexpensive and biodegradable, they tend to absorb water easily, have limited oil capacity, and degrade after only a few uses.
The Chinese team took a different approach. “This study used natural porous sphagnum moss as a raw material to develop a novel, economical, efficient, and easily recoverable adsorbent via surface modification,” the researchers explained. By treating the moss with chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide and lye, they altered its surface properties—enhancing its ability to absorb oil while significantly reducing its water uptake.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the modified moss outperformed traditional bio-based absorbents. Not only was it more effective, but it also demonstrated impressive reusability. “Alongside its superior adsorption performance, the material displayed remarkable reusability, maintaining over 90 percent of its initial adsorption capacity after 10 cycles,” the team noted.
This durability is critical during large-scale spills, where absorbents must be both efficient and sustainable. The production process is also simple and low-cost, using biodegradable sphagnum moss as the core component. “This makes it environmentally friendly and highly promising for oil spill management and ecological restoration,” the researchers added.
However, they acknowledged that more testing is needed to understand how the material performs in real-world and long-term scenarios.
Oil spills continue to pose a major global threat. Just last December, two Russian oil tankers encountered a violent storm near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. One vessel sank and the other ran aground, spilling thousands of tons of crude oil into the sea. Russia’s environmental agency, Rosprirodnadzor, estimated the environmental damage at nearly US$1 billion.
This incident reflects broader concerns about aging infrastructure. Many of Russia’s tankers—key to its oil exports to China—are outdated and increasingly vulnerable to accidents. Since new U.S. sanctions took effect in January, several Russian tankers have remained stranded near the Russian and Chinese coasts.
These mounting risks highlight the pressing demand for innovative and eco-conscious cleanup methods. As the Chinese scientists emphasized, “Oil and organic chemical spills have become a growing concern, threatening human health, aquatic ecosystems, and the sustainability of ecological systems.”
Their work reinforces a clear message: developing cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient oil-absorbing materials is not just an option—it’s an urgent global priority.
Would you like a visual of how the moss works compared to traditional absorbents?
By Impact Lab
