Dec 04, 2013 04:45 PM EST By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Oil is a slippery substance both on microscope slides and when leaked into the ocean. Using special surfaces designed to counteract oil's naturally low surface tension, researchers at the University of Missouri developed a method by which to control the unpredictable liquid, Phys.org reported.

Given the enormous damage exacted by oil spills, the implications are profound. Professor Jae Kwon Kwon and graduate student Riberet Almeida of Missouri's school of engineering work believe their material could dramatically decrease the chances of oil spills.

"Our newly developed surface helped keep oil, which is normally unmanageable, in predetermined pathways making it controllable," Kwon said in the school's press release.

Kwon and Almeida also see their research as a way to make microscopic examination easier for liquids with similarly low surface tension -- and thus difficult to manage on a glass slide.

"We feel that oil-repellant surfaces can be widely utilized for many industrial applications, and virtual walls for low-surface tension liquids also have immense potential for many lab-on-a-chip devices which are crucial to current and future research technique," Kwon said.

Kwon's and Almeida's surface is actually a microscopic, "virtual wall" that specifically blocks low-surface tension liquids like oil, according to the release. Water, by comparison, has high surface tension; fall from a great enough height and it's less forgiving than concrete.

"Our work is based on micro/nanoelectromechanical systems, or M/NEMS, which can be thought of as miniaturized electrical or mechanical structures that allow researchers to conduct their work on the micro/nanoscopic level," said Kwon. "Oil-based materials or low-surface tension liquids, which can wet any surface and spread very easily, pose challenges to researchers who need to control those tiny oil droplets on microdevices." 

The University of Missouri can only hope their football team will be as game-changing this Saturday in their SEC Title matchup against #3 Auburn.

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