Apparatus and method for picking up oil from the surface of water

A device for taking up oil from a water surface, comprising:

• a container is configured to receive the oil and
• a hydrophobic fabric is configured to transport the oil, said fabric having a surface which comprises filament-shaped structures, wherein a first portion of the fabric is in fluid communication with the water surface and a second portion of the fabric is disposed over a sidewall of the container and a first end of the second portion within the container is located below the level of the water surface,
• said first portion of the fabric being located outside of the container and above the first end of the second portion of the fabric located within the container below the level water surface to create a height difference between the first portion of the fabric and the second portion of the fabric which is a driving force for the transport of the oil or an oily substance into the container,
• with the fabric configured to adsorb oil so that the oil is transported into the container via the fabric,
• wherein on the surface of the fabric comprising the filament-shaped structures a plurality of filaments is arranged, wherein said filament-shaped structures are configured to retain a gas layer on the surface of the fabric under water, which gas layer is replaced by oil when the fabric comes into contact with oil or the oily substance, whereby the oil is transported into the container via the fabric and discharged therein as long as the second portion of the fabric within the container is below the water surface and wherein the fabric is designed as a three-dimensional spacer textile, said spacer textile comprises two outer layers spaced apart from one another and spacer threads extending therebetween connecting the outer layers to each other;
• wherein the spacer threads correspond to the filament-shaped structures.