Heat-Treated Micronized Polyethylene Powder for Efficient Oil/Water Separating Filters

Abstract

The targeted separation of oil/water mixtures is a rapidly growing field of research, mainly due to contaminated water becoming an increasingly important environmental issue. Superhydrophobic materials are highly suited to this application; however, growing efforts are being devoted to developing applicable technologies within a range of research communities. The optimal technical solution is one that combines a high separation efficiency with a straightforward fabrication procedure at a low cost. In this report, micronized polyethylene powder has been utilized as a low-cost hydrophobic material to manufacture easy-to-fabricate filters. The effect of heating and solvent addition on the water repellence behaviour has been investigated, according to which the optimum fabrication conditions were determined. The filters show high water repellence (WCA = 154°) and efficient oil/water separation (~99%). The filters are designed to provide a readily achievable approach for the separation of oils (hydrophobic solvents) from water in a range of potential applications.

The fabrication of robust and highly efficient oil–water separation filters via the high temperature sintering of silica micropower

“…For small volumes, the oil would be completely absorbed and collected within the structure (Movie S1 † ), at larger volumes and as the structure became saturated, the oil would begin to pass through the pores to be collected below. The separation efficiency (where v 1 is the initial volume of hydrophobic solvent and v 2 the collected volume) was calculated to be between 96–98% (Table S1 † ), (with the higher efficiency occurring for the lower sintering temperatures), which is as effective as our previous work on oil/water separation filters 19,20 As shown in Movie S1, † the oil absorbs into the porous structure and as such is not all collected into the beaker to be measured, this will ultimately lead to a lower calculated separation efficiency. After oil/water separation the WCA's were measured again, and regions of decreased hydrophobicity were observed with an average WCA of 137 ± 12°.…”

The challenges, achievements and applications of submersible superhydrophobic materials

“…molecular precursors/nanomaterials), including; chemical vapour deposition, electrospinning and more facile techniques (spray coating, dip coating, spin coating, etc.). [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Both classes of techniques have found equal success in fabricating synthetic superhydrophobic surfaces. However, limiting factors relating to complexity, equipment costs and compatible precursor materials can determine the suitability of each technique, specific to the coating/surface requirements.…”

Investigating the viability of sulfur polymers for the fabrication of photoactive, antimicrobial, water repellent coatings

“…Extremely water repellent materials display many remarkable properties, enabling them to produce functional coatings that are of significant scientific and industrial interest. Superhydrophobic functionalities include self-cleaning, [1][2][3] water purifying, [4][5][6] anti-bacterial, 7,8 and drag-reducing. 9,10 To date, many research efforts have been focused primarily on enhancing the physical durability of materials, as such small scale features often lead to mechanically weak microstructures.…”