The spray-on coating is made from nanoparticles -- tiny particles that are smaller than the finest speck of dust -- but when combined in the right way, they can do big things. Scientists spray-coated this mesh material and watched as a solution of oil and water -- dyed blue -- was poured over it. Almost like magic, the oil beaded up and collected on top while the water was filtered through the material. "We've also done a few tests on a wide variety of oils because oils can be complex," Brown said.

The technology could be used to clean up large oil spills someday – who can forget the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico – if you think something like that won't happen twice, think again.

"Since the Gulf Oil spill we've had many smaller spills," Bhushan said. "There's one off the coast of Santa Barbara, and another I remember reading about, these things happen all the time."

The technology is still years away from being used, but scientists say it's cheap to manufacture, could be scaled up to capture any size oil spill, and it could be adapted to repel both water and dirt from windshields.

"It's nice to work on something where you can really imagine it having an impact on the world and being able to help reduce our impact on our environment," Brown said.