A natural polyurethane foam developed at the Iligan Institute of Technology (IIT), Mindanao State University just might help solve oil spills .
Called CocoFlexSorb, the technology, unlike those available in the market, has superior oil absorption capacity and can absorb different types of oil from light, vegetable, kerosene, engine and bunker oil.
It has been determined not to be harmful to the environment during field tests in Occidental Mindoro conducted with the Philippine Coast Guard just this month.
The technology shows promising results, indicating that it could be a solution to an oil spill problem. However, further testing and development are necessary before the technology can be adopted and commercialized.
“The foam comes from coconut oil which is transformed into a foam to absorb different kinds of oil, from vegetable oil to kerosene to bunker oil such as the one that spilled in Mindoro,” said Dr. Arnold Lubguban, the absorbent foam program leader at the IIT Center for Sustainable Polymers (CSP). Paul Icamina
