A pair of California engineer are trying to clean house the sea , one swim at a time . Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan , both professors at the University of California Riverside , have developed a concept bikini called Spongesuit that leaches greasy defilement out of water ( see the material in action inthis video ) .
Four years in development , the Sponge material is made from het pelf . Due to its extremely porous structure , it rebuff pee , but absorb oils , realize it a perfect way to pawn up taint in lakes and ocean . build into a 3D - printed elastic washup suit , which the Ozkans created with the architecture and design firmEray Carbajo , Sponge would ensure that your immediate melted milieu were more or less cleaner than when you entered the H2O . “ There are a draw of [ biological oils ] inside the ocean issue forth from other swimmers and fauna , ” Mihri Ozkan explicate tomental_flossin an email . “ Even one person can make a difference , this is the musical theme . "
Image Credit : Spongesuit viaReshape
Do n’t worry : The Spongesuit wo n’t satisfy up with pollution on your first swimming , should it ever move beyond the concept phase . The stuff can absorb 25 times its own weightiness in oil . When it ’s heat up up to 1000 ° speed of light , it releases its absorbed gunk . The material can be re - used up to 20 times , provided you are able-bodied to heat up it — to achieve those sort of temperature , you ’d likely have to charge it to some kind of lab . you may swap out your old Sponge pad in the washup suit for a fresh one , kind of like stick a new water system filter in your Brita .
The suit won this year’sReshape15design contender for wearable engineering , but , consider the fact that most people probably avoid swimming in super - polluted body of water , it could be more utilitarian outside of the way globe . The Ozkans originally fancy the textile not as a bathing suit , but as a direction to make clean up gravid - ordered series crude oil spills in the sea . They say that it could also be incorporated into paint to protect airplanes and satellites from moisture . And given that there ’s more pee defilement in the world than a horde of swimmer in petite bikinis could maybe clean house up , giant tarps of Sponge material might be more utilitarian .
