Application of Superhydrophobic Mesh Coated by PDMS/TiO(2) Nanocomposites for Oil/Water Separation

Superhydrophobic materials have recently attracted great interest from both academia and industry due to their promising applications in self-cleaning, oil-water separation, etc. Here, we developed a facile method to prepare hybrid PDMS/TiO₂ fiber for superhydrophobic coatings. TiO₂ could be uniformly distributed into PDMS, forming a hierarchical micro/nano structure on the surface of the substrate. The contact angle of the superhydrophobic coating could reach as high as 155°. The superhydrophobic coating possessed good self-cleaning performance, corrosion resistance, and durability. It was found that gravity-driven oil-water separation was achieved using stainless steel mesh coated with the PDMS/TiO₂ coating. More importantly, the coated filter paper could not only separate oil and pure water but also corrosive solutions, including the salt, acid, and alkali solution.

High Temperature Resistant Separator of PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO2 for Lithium-Ion Batteries

To improve the thermal shrinkage and ionic conductivity of the separator for lithium-ion batteries, adding carboxylic titanium dioxide nanofiber materials into the matrix is proposed as an effective strategy. In this regard, a poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoro propylene)/dibutyl phthalate/carboxylic titanium dioxide (PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO₂) composite separator is prepared with the phase inversion method. When the content of TiO₂ nanofibers reaches 5%, the electrochemical performance of the battery and ion conductivity of the separator are optimal. The PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO₂ (5%) composite separator shows about 55.5% of porosity and 277.9% of electrolyte uptake. The PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO₂ (5%) composite separator has a superior ionic conductivity of 1.26 × 10 ⁻³ S cm⁻¹ and lower interface impedance at room temperature, which brings about better cycle and rate performance. In addition, the cell assembled with a PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO₂ separator can be charged or discharged normally and has an outstanding discharge capacity of about 150 mAh g⁻¹ at 110 °C. The battery assembled with the PVDF-HFP/DBP/C-TiO₂ composite separator exhibits excellent electrochemical performance under high and room temperature environments.

TiO2 NPs Assembled into a Carbon Nanofiber Composite Electrode by a One-Step Electrospinning Process for Supercapacitor Applications

In this study, we have synthesized titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) into carbon nanofiber (NFs) composites by a simple electrospinning method followed by subsequent thermal treatment. The resulting composite was characterized by state-of-the-art techniques and exploited as the electrode material for supercapacitor applications. The electrochemical behavior of the as-synthesized TiO₂ NPs assembled into carbon nanofibers (TiO₂-carbon NFs) was investigated and compared with pristine TiO₂ NFs. The cyclic voltammetry and charge–discharge analysis of the composite revealed an enhancement in the performance of the composite compared to the bare TiO₂ NFs. The as-obtained TiO₂-carbon NF composite exhibited a specific capacitance of 106.57 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and capacitance retention of about 84% after 2000 cycles. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that the prepared nanocomposite could be used as electrode material in a supercapacitor. Furthermore, this work provides an easy scale-up strategy to prepare highly efficient TiO₂-carbon composite nanofibers.