Smart Superhydrophobic Filter Paper for Water/Oil Separation and Unidirectional Transportation of Liquid Droplet

Abstract

Water/oil separation from their mixture and emulsion has been a prominent topic in fundamental research and in practical applications. In this work, a smart superhydrophobic membrane (SHP) was obtained by dipping an off-the-shelf laboratory filter paper in an ethanol suspension of trichloro (1H,1H,2H,2H-tridecafluoro-n-octyl) silane, tetraethyl orthosilicate, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles with different dimensions of 20 and 100 nm. The selection of membrane substrates was optimized including different quantitative and quantitative filter papers with different filtration velocity (slow, intermediate, and fast). The as-prepared SHP was demonstrated to be superhydrophobic and photosensitive, which was used in the separation of carbon tetrachloride and water from their mixture and emulsion. Moreover, orderly aligned micropores were formed for the modified superhydrophobic filter papers by using nanosecond laser. Unidirectional penetration was obtained for the UV-irradiated paper with a bored pore in the range of 50–500 μm in the systems of air/water and water/oil. This study may promote the understanding of unidirectional transportation of liquid droplet and facilitate the design of interfacial materials with Janus-type wettability.

Nano-Silica Bubbled Structure Based Durable and Flexible Superhydrophobic Electrospun Nanofibrous Membrane for Extensive Functional Applications

“…In recent times, superhydrophobic membranes are receiving much interest in various emerging applications [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Additionally, the poor adherence of water with the superhydrophobic surfaces causes the water drops to roll, resulting in surface cleaning by microorganisms [ 5 ].…”

Versatile Application of TiO2@PDA Modified Filter Paper for Oily Wastewater Treatment

“…However, metal mesh has a large pore size and is poor for stabilizing emulsion separation; ceramic membranes are prone to scaling and clogging; and most polymer membranes have low fluxes and poor mechanical properties. Commercially available laboratory FP is an economical, renewable, bio-degradable material containing tiny pore sizes that has a wide range of applications for oil/water and emulsion separation [18,19]. Meng developed a superhydrophobic cellulose-chitosan composite aerogel through electrostatic interaction and ion exchange.…”