Argonne National Laboratory

Environmental Chemistry

Argonne maintains a wide-ranging science and technology portfolio that seeks to address complex challenges in interdisciplinary and innovative ways. Below is a list of all articles, highlights, profiles, projects, and organizations related specifically to environmental chemistry.

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  • Electrochemical Science

    The Electrochemical Science group studies the synthesis, structure, and transport properties of materials at the interface between electroactive materials and either a liquid or solid electrolyte.

  • Interfacial Processes

    The Interfacial Processes Group seeks to understand the structure and reactivity of solid-liquid interfaces, ranging from natural minerals to functional materials.

  • Edward J. O’Loughlin

    Ed O’Loughlin is an environmental chemist/environmental microbiologist specializing in the biogeochemical processes controlling the cycling of major/minor elements and the fate and transport of contaminants in natural systems.

  • Michael D. Kaminski

    Expert in the nexus of chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, and nuclear chemistry with vast technical experience that spans from nanomaterials to nuclear waste to national security.
  • A technology for recovering oil and other petroleum products from water
    Intellectual Property Available to License

    Argonne National Laboratory researchers have invented a technology for recovering oil and other petroleum products from bodies of water that surpasses similar technologies that are currently on the market in several key aspects.

    Water contamination from oil and other petroleum products carries with it huge environmental, economic and health impacts. Argonne’s invention, known as Oleo Sponge, offers promise for dramatically improving our ability to combat this problem – whether it be a catastrophic oil spill that devastates the Gulf Coast of the United States or chronic issues with contamination in harbors and ports around the world.

    Oleo Sponge offers multiple critical advantages over current industry-standard technologies:

    • The technology is the first and only option to effectively and efficiently adsorb oil and other petroleum products below the water surface. Current industry-standard technologies only address the surface.
    • Oleo Sponge is reusable (you simply wring the reclaimed oil into a holding tank). This dramatically reduces waste resulting from the clean-up process and enables a small amount of adsorbent to mitigate enormous spills. Current sorbent technologies soak up oil in a single use, and the oil-saturated materials must then be disposed of.
    • Oleo Sponge is environmentally friendly – doing no harm to sea life, animals or the larger environment – a key advantage when compared with chemical dispersants or burning techniques that are used today.
    • Oleo Sponge demonstrates unparalleled sorption performance.
    • The oil and other petroleum products that are recovered by Oleo Sponge can be salvaged for future use.