of cnts reinforces the relatively flexible graphene substrate and endows their intrinsic elasticity to the coorganized aerogel. ” one of the ufa ’ s interesting properties is its elasticity that allows it to be repeatedly compressed and returned to its nearly original size. this sponginess comes in handy in combination with another property : it can rapidly absorb up to 900 times its own weight in oil or other organic liquids. for example, one gram can absorb 68. 8 grams of organics per second. the elasticity remained the same in tests that ranged from −190 to 300°c. the elasticity also remained after researchers annealed the ufa at 900°c for five hours. there are probably many ways the elasticity and absorbability can be useful, not the least of which is that, because of its hydrophobicity, it could be a reusable medium to soak up oil spills on lakes and oceans. gao says in the university story, “ maybe one day when oil spill occurs, we can scatter them on the sea and absorb the oil quickly. due to its elasticity, both the oil absorbed and the aerogel can be recycled. ” ( another chinese research group working at tsinghua and peking universities published a paper in 2010 about the use of cnts for oil spills, and i suspect that there is some overlap between the work of the two groups. ) another property of the ufa is that it has elasticity - dependent electrical conductivity. for example, they report connecting an led lamp top the ufa bulk, and “ its brightness fluctuates upon compressing and releasing the aerogel. this phenomenon promises the application of ufas as pressure - responsive sensors. ” they also say that by loading the ufa with tiny amounts of certain liquids ( say, ccl4 or 1 - hexadecanol ), they can make conductive composites with very high electrical conductivity compared to just cnt - or graphene - based composites. video of variable conductivity of ufa demonstrating current change to led when aerogel is compressed and released. credit : gao et al. ; advanced materials. gao and the other authors also suggest the ufa could find use as supercapacitors and catalyst beds, but another intriguing application they only hint at is its use as a medium that enhances phase - change energy storage materials. for example, unlike other composites, a ufa - paraffin combination delivers higher phase - change enthal