Molecular-Structure-Induced Under-Liquid Dual Superlyophobic Surfaces

Effective separation of water-in-oil emulsions using an under-medium superlyophilic membrane with hierarchical pores

Separating water-in-oil emulsions is important in terms of environmental protection and resource recovery. To address the challenges posed by the water-oil interface, superwetting materials have been designed to accomplish separation through filtration and adsorption. Superhydrophobic membranes prevent the permeation of water droplets owing to extreme repellence and their size-sieving abilities. However, their use in remediating water-contaminated oil is limited by high oil viscosities. Meanwhile, in-air superhydrophilic sorbents are rarely employed for the separation of water-in-oil emulsions due to the thermodynamic and kinetic limitations of water adsorption in oil. Herein, the integration of an under-medium superlyophilic membrane with the hierarchical porous structure of wood is presented for filtration-driven selective adsorption of water from surfactant-stabilized (10 g/L) water-in-oil emulsions. Compared to filtration through a natural wood membrane or direct adsorption using an under-oil superhydrophilic wood membrane, the under-medium superlyophilic wood membrane demonstrated high separation efficiencies of > 99.95% even when applied to the regeneration of high-viscosity lubricating (6.3 mPa s) and edible (50.5 mPa s) oils, exhibiting viscosity-dependent fluxes and excellent stability. Moreover, the cost of purifying 200 mL of lubricating oil using the modified wood membrane was much lower than the oil's market price and required a low energy consumption of ca. 1.72 kWh. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION: The ever-growing use of petroleum and industrial/domestic oil products has led to excessive (estimated at a million tons per year) output of waste oils. Because direct discharge of waste oils into the environment causes serious pollution problems, separating water-in-oil emulsions is important in terms of environmental protection and resource recovery. Here filtration-driven water adsorption has been demonstrated to be a feasible method for the remediation of water-contaminated waste oils, even those that are highly viscous.

Robust and flexible polyester fiber membrane with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity for efficient on-demand oil-water separation

Functional materials with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity have generated a great deal of concern from researchers due to their switchable separation ability oil-water mixtures and emulsions. Conceptually, under-liquid dual superlyophobicity is a Cassie state achievable under-liquid through the synergy of an under-liquid double lyophobic surface and the construction of a highly rough surface. However, obtaining an under-liquid dual superlyophobic surface remains difficult due to its thermodynamic contradiction and complex surface composition. Herein, we successfully prepared a functional coating by modifying the mixture of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and nano-TiO2 with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) via a simple method, then obtained a polyester fiber membrane with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity by roll coating method. The surface wettability of the polyester (PET) membrane was altered, transforming it from the original under-water oleophobic/under-oil superhydrophilic state to the under-water superoleophobic/under-oil superhydrophobic state after coated. The resulting membrane was applied to separate oil and water on-demand. The coated PET membrane exhibited high separation efficiency (>99 %) and high separation flux, effectively separating immiscible oil-water systems as well as oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions. The coated PET membrane also demonstrated the ability to perform alternate separation of oil-water mixtures through wetting, washing, and rewetting cycles, with repeated processes up to 10 times without significant reduction in separation efficiency. Furthermore, compared with the previous works, our approach offers a simpler and more convenient method for constructing under-liquid dual superlyophobic surface, making it more suitable for continuous corporate production. This study may provide inspiration for the production and application in large-scale of under-liquid dual superlyophobic membranes.

Covalent organic framework functionalized smart membranes with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity for efficient separation of oil/water emulsions

The smart membrane with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity, which can achieve on-demand separation of oil/water emulsions only by simple liquid pre-wetting, is of essential value for the treatment of complicated real oil/water systems. Here, we first fabricated a stable suspension of imine-linked covalent organic framework nanospheres (TPB-DMTP-COF), and subsequently fabricated COF functionalized smart membranes with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity by immersing polyacrylonitrile-based (PAN-based) membranes into TPB-DMTP-COF nanosphere suspension. Accordingly, effective switchable separation of both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions by TPB-DMTP-COF/PAN membranes can be achieved by employing pre-wetting processes (both the oil contact angle under water and the water contact angle under oil are over 150°). Specifically, the separation flux and the separation efficiency are higher than 1200 L/m2‧h and 98.0 %, and 2100 L/m2‧h and 97.4 % for the surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, respectively. Furthermore, the ultralow adhesions in liquid contributed to the outstanding reusability and antifouling resistance of the prepared TPB-DMTP-COF/PAN membranes. This work provides a feasible approach for fabricating a smart membrane with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity for oily wastewater treatment.

Robust Janus Superwetting Textile with Large Pore Sizes for Oil-in-Water Emulsion Separation

Developing advanced oil-water separation technology is significant for environmental conservation. According to the synergetic effects of the size-sieving mechanism, superwetting materials with small pore sizes have been designed to realize high-efficiency separation for oil-water emulsions. However, the separation flux limited by the pore size and the weakness of the superwetting material impede its practical application severely. Herein, we construct a robust Janus superwetting textile with large pore sizes for oil-in-water emulsion separation. The pristine textile is coated by the as-prepared CuO nanoparticles as the bottom layer with superhydrophilicity and then grafted by 1-octadecanethiol as the top layer with superhydrophobicity to construct the Janus textile. When used as a filter, the superhydrophobic layer acts as the nucleation site to coalesce the small oil droplets facilely. Then, the coalesced oil fills the pores of the superhydrophobic layer and selectively permeates it but is blocked by the superhydrophilic layer with large pore sizes. Utilizing the unique separation mechanism, the Janus textile realizes efficient and rapid separation. Even after multicycle separation, hot liquid immersion for 24 h, tribological test for 60 min, and sandpaper abrasion for 500 cycles, the Janus textile still retains the superwettability and excellent separation performance, manifesting outstanding stability to resist severe damage. This separation strategy provides a novel guideline for high-efficiency and high-flux emulsion separation and practical application.

Dual Superlyophobic Materials for Under-Liquid Microfluid Manipulation, Immiscible Solvent Separation, and CO2 Blockage

Oily water purification, immiscible solvent separation, sensitive microreaction, and CO₂ blockage are of great interest because of their importance for the environment and demands of controllable microreactions. However, one specific material that can meet all the requirements has yet to be reported. Herein, we developed a simple environment-benign method to prepare specific dual superlyophobic materials to solve the problems mentioned earlier. The dual superlyophobic materials can maintain their dual superoleophobicity in various oil/water systems, and no additional surface modifications were required when the oil/water system was changed. Moreover, the materials can be used to separate oil/water mixtures with separation efficiencies greater than 99.50% even after 40 separation cycles and separate immiscible organic solvents with efficiencies over than 99.25% after 20 cycles. Separations of meal waste oily water at 60 °C and crude oil/water were also successfully performed. The materials can be further applied to manipulate and block CO₂ bubbles under liquid. The materials can also act as a platform for microdrop manipulation/microreaction under liquid.

Bioinspired Under-Liquid Dual Superlyophobic Surface for On-Demand Oil/Water Separation

Porous membranes with under-liquid dual superlyophobic properties, which are difficult to achieve because of a thermodynamic contradiction, have attracted considerable interest in the field of switchable oil/water separation. Herein, a bioinspired mesh membrane with alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic chemical patterns on its surface that endows it with superamphiphilic and under-liquid dual superlyophobic properties is fabricated by a simple liquidus modification process. The as-prepared membrane possesses a combination of under-oil superhydrophobic and under-water superoleophobic characteristics in the absence of external stimuli. Moreover, it can effectively perform the on-demand separation of various oil/water systems, including immiscible oil/water mixtures and oil/water emulsions owing to its under-liquid dual superlyophobic properties.

Special Superwetting Materials from Bioinspired to Intelligent Surface for On-Demand Oil/Water Separation: A Comprehensive Review

Since superwetting surfaces have emerged, on-demand oil/water separation materials serve as a new direction for meeting practical needs. This new separation mode uses a single porous material to allow oil-removing and water-removing to be achieved alternately. In this review, the fundamentals of wettability are systematically summarized in oil/water separation. Most importantly, the two states, bioinspired surface and intelligent surface, are summarized for on-demand oil/water separation. Specifically, bioinspired surfaces include micro/nanostructures, bioinspired chemistry, Janus-featured surfaces, and dual-superlyophobic surfaces that these superwetting materials can possess asymmetric wettability in one structure system or opposite underliquid wettability by prewetting. Furthermore, an intelligent surface can be adopted by various triggers such as pH, thermal and photo stimuli, etc., to control wettability for switchable oil/water separation reversibly, expressing a thought beyond nature to realize innovative oil/water separation by external stimuli. Remarkably, this review also discusses the advantages of all the materials mentioned above, expanding the separation scope from the on-demand oil/water mixtures to the multiphase immiscible liquid-liquid mixtures. Finally, the prospects of on-demand oil/water separation materials are also concluded.

Controllable Fabrication of Durable, Underliquid Superlyophobic Surfaces Based on the Lyophilic-Lyophobic Balance

Surfaces possessing desirable underliquid special wettability, particularly underliquid dual superlyophobicity, have a high potential for extensive applications. However, there is still a lack of controllable preparation strategies to regulate the underliquid wettability via balancing the underliquid lyophilicity-lyophobicity. Herein, we develop a nanocomposite coating system comprising silica nanoparticles (NPs), glycerol propoxylate triglycidyl ether (GPTE), and fluorinated alkyl silane (FAS) to obtain controllable underliquid special wettability surfaces. FAS is the vital factor in guiding the preparation of the surface coating with expected underliquid superwettability. Increasing the FAS content results in a tendency toward underwater superoleophobicity/underoil hydrophilicity to underwater oleophilicity/underoil superhydrophobicity. Significantly, the underliquid dual superlyophobic surface can be achieved when an appropriate FAS content is located. After the coating treatment, the fabric exhibits superamphiphilicity in air and superlyophobicity in liquid (i.e., exhibiting both underwater superoleophobicity and underoil superhydrophobicity). The coating also exhibits an adaptable antioil fouling ability and high durability against harsh environments. Furthermore, oil/water separation based on the underliquid dual superlyophobicity of coated fabrics is successfully demonstrated. Our work proposes a new fabrication principle for the design of underliquid special wettability surfaces and offers broad applications, such as switchable oil/water separation, antibiofouling, liquid manipulation, and smart textiles.

Topographical Design and Thermal-Induced Organization of Interfacial Water Structure to Regulate the Wetting State of Surfaces

Smart surfaces with superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic characteristics can be controlled by external stimuli, such as temperature. These transitions are attributed to the molecular-level conformation of the grafted polymer chains due to the varied interactions at the interface. Here, tunable surfaces were prepared by grafting two well-known thermo-responsive polymers, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(oligoethylene glycol)methyl ether acrylate (POEGMA₁₈₈) onto micro-pollen particles of uniform morphology and roughness. Direct Raman spectra and thermodynamic analyses revealed that above the lower critical solution temperature, the bonded and free water at the interface partially transformed to intermediate water that disrupted the "water cage" surrounding the hydrophobic groups. The increased amounts of intermediate water produced hydrogen bonding networks that were less ordered around the polymer grafted microparticles, inducing a weaker binding interaction at the interface and a lower tendency to wet the surface. Combining the roughness factor, the bulk surface assembled by distinct polymer-grafted-pollen microparticles (PNIPAM or POEGMA₁₈₈) could undergo a different wettability transition for liquid under air, water, and oil. This work identifies new perspectives on the interfacial water structure variation at a multiple length scale, which contributed to the temperature-dependent surface wettability transition. It offers inspiration for the application of thermo-responsive surface to liquid-gated multiphase separation, water purification and harvesting, biomedical devices, and printing.

Gradient monolayered porous membrane for liquid manipulation: from fabrication to application

The controlled transport of liquid on a smart material surface has important applications in the fields of microreactors, mass and heat transfer, water collection, microfluidic devices and so on. Porous membranes with special wettability have attracted extensive attention due to their unique unidirectional transport behavior, that is, liquid can easily penetrate in one direction while reverse transport is prevented, which shows great potential in functional textiles, fog collection, oil/water separation, sensors, etc. However, many porous membranes are synthesized from multilayer structural materials with poor mechanical properties and are currently prone to delamination, which limits their stability. While a monolayered porous membrane, especially for gradient structure, is an efficient, stable and durable material owing to its good durability and difficult stratification. Therefore, it is of great significance to fabricate a monolayered porous membrane for controllable liquid manipulation. In this minireview, we briefly introduce the classification and fabrication of typical monolayered porous membranes. And the applications of monolayered porous membranes in unidirectional penetration, selective separation and intelligent response are further emphasized and discussed. Finally, the controllable preparation and potential applications of porous membranes are featured and their prospects discussed on the basis of their current development.

Liquid-Assisted Single-Layer Janus Membrane for Efficient Unidirectional Liquid Penetration

Unidirectional liquid penetration plays an important role in many fields, such as microfluidic devices, biological medical, liquid printing, and oil/water separation. Although there are some progresses in the liquid unidirectional penetration using a variety of Janus membranes with anisotropic wettability, it still remains a great difficulty for single-layer Janus membranes with straight pore to balance spontaneous liquid penetration in positive direction and superior liquid resistance in the reverse direction. Herein, a liquid-assisted strategy for single-layer Janus membrane is developed, which can efficiently decrease the critical breakthrough pressure from superhydrophobic side to hydrophilic side and show little influence on that in the reverse direction. Consequently, unidirectional water penetration with high hydraulic pressure difference can be achieved. The Laplace pressure change along the thickness of the single-layer Janus membranes is further discussed, and the mechanism by which the auxiliary liquid decreases the critical breakthrough pressure is revealed. Furthermore, this Janus membrane with unidirectional water penetration "diode" performance can be used to prevent liquid backflow in intravenous transfusion. It is believed that this work can open an avenue for people to design single-layer Janus membrane with high pressure difference and find wide applications in unidirectional liquid transport.

Robust and durable liquid-repellent surfaces

This review provides a comprehensive summary of characterization, design, fabrication, and application of robust and durable liquid-repellent surfaces.

Multifunctional Switchable Nanocoated Membranes for Efficient Integrated Purification of Oil/Water Emulsions

Surfaces with unusual under-liquid dual superlyophobicity are attractive on account of their widespread applications, but their development remains difficult due to thermodynamic contradiction. Additionally, these surfaces may suffer from limited antifouling ability, which has restricted their practical applications. Herein, we report a successful in situ growth of a hybrid zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 and zinc oxide nanorod on a porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane (ZIF-8@ZnO-PPVDF) and its application as a self-cleaning switchable barrier material in rapid filtration for emulsified oily wastewater. The novel ZIF-8@ZnO-PPVDF exhibits superior mechanical strength, reversible under-liquid dual superlyophobicity, photocatalytic self-cleaning property, and an effective alternate separation capacity toward both oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions with ultrahigh fluxes and efficiencies (>99%). By simply using a "bait-hook-eliminate" method to separate the O/W emulsions containing soluble organic pollutants, we demonstrate that the ZIF-8@ZnO-PPVDF can achieve stable separation fluxes over 600 L m^-2 h^-1 with high efficiencies and be completely/nondestructively regenerated by visible-light irradiation after each cycle. This study would demonstrate a new approach to prepare an under-liquid dual superlyophobic revivable membrane for various applications.

Formulating Multiphase Medium Anti-wetting States in an Air-Water-Oil System: Engineering Defects for Interface Chemical Evolutions

Studies which regulate macroscopic wetting states on determined surfaces in multiphase media are of far-reaching significance but are still in the preliminary stage. Herein, inspired by the wettability subassembly of fish scales, Namib desert beetle shell, and lotus leaf upper side, interfaces in the air-water-oil system are programmed by defect engineering to tailor the anti-wetting evolution from double to triple liquid repellency states. By controlling the visible light irradiation and plasma treatment, surface oxygen vacancies on Cu_xO@TiO₂ nanowires (NWs) can be healed or reconstructed. The original membrane or the membrane after plasma treatment possesses abundant surface oxygen vacancies, and the homogeneous hydrophilic membrane shows only double anti-wetting states in the water-oil system. By the unsaturated visible light irradiation time, the surface oxygen vacancy partially healed, the heterogeneous hydrophilic-hydrophobic components occupied the membrane surface, and the anti-wetting state finally changed from double to triple in the air-water-oil system. After the illumination time reaches saturation, it promotes the healing of all surface oxygen vacancies, and the membrane surface only contains uniform hydrophobic components and only maintains double anti-wetting state in the air-oil system. The mechanism of the triple anti-wetting state on a heterogeneous surface is expounded by establishing a wetting model. The wetting state and the adhesion state of the Cu_xO@TiO₂ NW membrane show regional specificity by controlling the illumination time and region. The underwater oil droplets exhibit the "non-adhesive" and "adhesive" state in a region with unsaturated irradiation time or in an unirradiated region, respectively. Underwater oil droplet manipulation can be accomplished easily based on switchable wettability and adhesion. Current studies reveal that defect engineering can be extended to anti-wetting evolution in the air-water-oil system. Constructing an anti-wetting interface by heterogeneous components provides reference for designing the novel anti-wetting interface.

Magnetism-Actuated Superhydrophobic Flexible Microclaw: From Spatial Microdroplet Maneuvering to Cross-Species Control

The flexible maneuvering of microliter liquid droplets is significant in both fundamental science and practical applications. However, most current strategies are limited to the rigid locomotion on confined geographies platforms, which greatly hinder their practical uses. Here, we propose a magnetism-actuated superhydrophobic flexible microclaw (MSFM) with hierarchical structures for water droplet manipulation. By virtue of precise femtosecond laser patterning on magnetism-responsive poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) films doped with carbonyl iron powder, this MSFM without chemical contamination exhibits powerful spatial droplet maneuvering advantages with fast response (<100 ms) and lossless water transport (∼50 cycles) in air. We further performed quantitative analysis of diverse experimental parameters including petal number, length, width, and iron element proportion in MSFM impacting the applicable maneuvering volumes. By coupling the advantages of spatial maneuverability and fast response into this versatile platform, typical unique applications are demonstrated such as programmable coalescence of droplets, collecting debris via droplets, tiny solid manipulation in aqueous severe environments, and harmless living creature control. We envision that this versatile MSFM should provide great potential for applications in microfluidics and cross-species robotics.

A Universal Strategy for the Preparation of Dual Superlyophobic Surfaces in Oil-Water Systems

There are some methods to prepare superwetting surfaces with underwater superoleophobicity (UWSOB) or underoil superhydrophobicity (UOSHB), but it is still thorny to put forward a universal strategy for constructing dual superlyophobic surfaces in oil-water systems due to a thermodynamic contradiction. Herein, a universal strategy was proposed to prepare the dual superlyophobic surfaces in oil-water systems only via delicately controlling surface chemistry, that is, adjusting the ratios of superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic counterparts in the spray solution. Three types of materials, attapulgite (APT), TiO₂, and loess, were chosen to prepare a diverse series of mixed coatings (mass gradient of superhydrophobic counterparts from 0 to 100 wt %). With the proportion of each superhydrophobic counterpart increasing, the underwater oil contact angle (θ_o/w^*) of each mixed coating slightly decreased but still was more than 150°, that is, UWSOB. In contrast, the underoil water contact angle (θ_w/o^*) was significantly improved, realizing the transformation from UOHL (or UOHB) to UOSHB. More importantly, the respective mass ratios of superhydrophobic counterparts in the resulting mixed coatings of APT, TiO₂, and loess were finally determined to be 0.3, 0.4, and 0.2, respectively. Taking APT as a model, a train of mixed APT coatings with different superhydrophobic components were systematically characterized and analyzed. Finally, the prepared superlyophobic separation mesh in oil-water systems was applied to the separation of various surfactant-stabilized oil-water emulsions. We envision that this universal strategy we proposed will show a significant application potential in addressing scientific and technological challenges in the field of interfacial chemistry such as oil-water separation, microfluidics, microdroplet manipulation, antifogging/icing, cell engineering, drag reduction, and so forth.