On the 24th, Harbin Institute of Technology released a message that Prof. Zhao Xuezeng and Associate Professor Pan Xiaolu of the Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of the school have made new progress in the selection of wettability functional materials for oil-water separation and controllable actuation of droplets. The research results were published as a back cover article. Advanced Functional Materials (Influence Factor 12.124).
The picture shows the "Advanced Functional Materials" periodical. (Supplied by Harbin Institute of Technology)
Oil-water separation is of great significance in many fields. The use of omentum filtration for oil-water separation has the advantages of high speed and low energy consumption. However, due to the relatively high surface energy of water, the existing oil-water filtration separation technology is Water-blocking and oil-passing filtration methods, therefore, the mesh is easily blocked by high-viscosity oil or sealed by a high-density water film so that the oil cannot pass through congenital defects, which greatly limits its application.
"Advanced Functional Materials" back cover of the current period (May 16, 2018, Volume 28, Issue 20), back cover note: In article 1706867, Pan Yulu et al. proposed an efficient method for preparing superoleophobic superhydrophilic coatings. The coating can be used to achieve separation of oil and water, controlled absorption of oil in water and oil droplets, and their proposed concrete-like structure significantly improves the mechanical strength of the coating.
By constructing a special micro-nano composite structure, the research team broke through the limitations of the traditional surface energy theory to prepare an ultra-wetting functional coating that is completely oil-free yet completely hydrophilic. The oil-water separation of oil-blocking and water-repelling can be realized on the mesh base, which completely solves the problems of 'water blocking and oil-flooding' filtration, and has a very broad application prospect, especially in industrial wastewater treatment, crude oil extraction. And it has very important practical value in the recovery of marine oil pollution.
