In addition to being an important element in living organisms, silicon is by far the most widely used of all semiconductor materials. Most recently, however, nano-silicon has been demonstrated to be an attractive tool in the field of environmental remediation, specifically when it comes to cleaning up oil spills from underwater drilling and hydraulic fracking. Here, the notable advance is that surface-engineered porous nano-silicon sponges demonstrate a strong affinity for emulsified oil in seawater.
See full article at Advanced Science News.