Phase separation micromolding and float-casting are combined to prepare hierarchically structured microsieves.

Porous hydrogel microspheres were synthesised and mixed with dry-water forming a colloidal system-Formation of methane gas hydrates in the colloidal system was fast and high in hydration capacity-The system is reusable for methane storage Highlights.docx

Six novel polymer-based kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs) were synthesized and characterized. Their performance in inhibiting both tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate and the synthetic gas hydrate formation was examined using two different instruments: a ball-stop apparatus and a high-pressure automatic lag time apparatus (HP-ALTA). Performance was benchmarked against two commercially available KHIs, Gaffix VC-713 and Luvicap EG, under the same working conditions. The test results from the ball-stop rig demonstrated that the new KHIs were as effective as Gaffix VC-713 and Luvicap EG in preventing the formation of THF hydrates in 3.5 wt % NaCl solutions. For the synthetic gases, most new polymers outperformed the reference KHIs at a concentration of 0.05 wt %. Polymers containing a pendant THF functional group in the side chains showed a substantial 12–16 °C decrease in the hydrate formation temperature of the gas water mixtures relative to those containing the same amount of Gaffix VC-713 or Luvicap EG. The trend of the inhibition performance of the polymers was different in THF from that measured for gas mixtures. Small amounts of ethanol added to the hydrate formation mixtures were also shown to have an effect. Investigation of the inhibition mechanism associated with these new polymers is under way.

In principle, one might prepare thin polymer membranes in an easy and economic way by generating a wetting layer of a polymerizable oil on a water surface, solidifying it, and transferring it to a solid substrate. However, there is hardly any oil that wets a water surface. One efficient way to assist the wetting of the water surface by an oil is to mix the oil with suitable particles. Theoretically, one expects several scenarios, which depend on the contact angles of the particles with the liquid interfaces. On the basis of these calculations, one can draw phase diagrams of particle-assisted wetting. In the current paper, we verify such a phase diagram of particle-assisted wetting experimentally.