Giant “kitchen towels” could replace booms, bombs and detergents as the best remedy for a catastrophic oil spill, researchers said after inventing a super-absorbent membrane.

The wafer-thin sheet, made from nanowires, acts like blotting paper on oil and has the capacity to absorb 20 times its own weight. It is impervious to water, remaining dry even when left under water for a month, but soaks up oil and other contaminants, which can then be removed and disposed of safely.

Researchers believe that it will lead to the development of huge “towels” that could be dropped into the seas or dragged through the water to soak up oil spills like those caused by the Torrey Canyon, Exxon Valdez and Amoco Cadiz.

Heating the membrane releases any oil that has been soaked up, which means that spills can be salvaged. The membrane can then be used again.

The nanowire matting is expected to have other environmental uses, including the removal of chemical contaminants from ponds and rivers.

The invention was disclosed in the journal Nature Nanotechnology and the research team, from the United States, Japan and Singapore, said that it had the potential to separate one chemical from another. “A more immediate application for these membrane materials will be in the removal of hydrophobic contaminants from water (for example, seawater or industrial discharge),” the scientists wrote.

“Given the global scale of severe water pollution arising from oil spills and industrial organic pollutants, this study may prove particularly useful in the design of recyclable absorbents with significant environmental impact.

“Our results suggest an innovative material that should find practical applications in the removal of organics, particularly in the field of oil spill clean-up.”

Dr Francesco Stellacci, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led the research to develop the matting from potassium manganese oxide nanowires, each strand measuring 20 nanometres across — 20 billionths of a metre.

He said that with more than 200,000 tonnes of oil being spilt into the sea in the past decade alone, the membranes have enormous potential for cleaning up the environment because of their ability to absorb liquid without soaking up any water.

In laboratory tests the material was shown to be effective at mopping up petrol floating on top of jars.

“What we found is that we can make 'paper' from an interwoven mesh of nanowires that is able to selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids — oil-like liquids — from water,” Dr Stellacci said.

“Our material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out it's still dry. But at the same time, if that water contains some hydrophobic contaminants, they will get absorbed.”

The membrane is able to repel water because the nanowires are covered with a hydrophobic coating, while the tiny pores in the material are ideal for trapping oil.

Dr Joerg Lahann, of the University of Michigan, said after reading the research paper: “Stellacci and co-workers have provided an example of a nanomaterial that has been rationally designed to address a major environmental challenge. It clearly provides a blueprint that can guide the design of future nanomaterials for environmental applications. Many other examples are expected to follow and will confirm the potential of nanomaterials for protecting the environment.”

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