Green Options

David Schiraldi has seen the future and it is clay.  The Case Western Reserve University professor and his research team are developing a clay aerogel that transforms common clay into a super lightweight material that could be used as insulating or packing foams, magnets, conductors, and yes, even high tech kitty litter that weighs only 1/10 as much as conventional clay litter.

The American Chemical Society reports that aerogel or “frozen smoke” may be the holy grail of sponges for capturing oil from wastewater and soaking up oil spills. Unlike other costly and inefficient sponges, hydrophobic silica aerogels are both highly porous and absorbent.