1 research outputs found
Inspired by Stenocara Beetles: From Water Collection to High-Efficiency Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation
Inspired by the water-collecting
mechanism of the Stenocara beetle’s
back structure, we prepared
a superhydrophilic bumps–superhydrophobic/superoleophilic stainless
steel mesh (SBS-SSM) filter <i>via</i> a facile and environmentally
friendly method. Specifically, hydrophilic silica microparticles are
assembled on the as-cleaned stainless steel mesh surface, followed
by further spin-coating with a fluoropolymer/SiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticle
solution. On the special surface of SBS-SSM, attributed to the steep
surface energy gradient, the superhydrophilic bumps (hydrophilic silica
microparticles) are able to capture emulsified water droplets and
collect water from the emulsion even when their size is smaller than
the pore size of the stainless steel mesh. The oil portion of the
water-in-oil emulsion therefore permeates through pores of the superhydrophobic/superoleophilic
mesh coating freely and gets purified. We demonstrated an oil recovery
purity up to 99.95 wt % for surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions
on the biomimetic SBS-SSM filter, which is superior to that of the
traditional superhydrophobic/superoleophilic stainless steel mesh
(S-SSM) filter lacking the superhydrophilic bump structure. Together
with a facile and environmentally friendly coating strategy, this
tool shows great application potential for water-in-oil emulsion separation
and oil purification