Robust Flower‐Like TiO2@Cotton Fabrics with Special Wettability for Effective Self‐Cleaning and Versatile Oil/Water Separation

Inspired by the hierarchical structure of the mastoid on the micrometer and nanometer scale and the waxy crystals of the mastoid on natural lotus surfaces, a facile one‐step hydrothermal strategy is developed to coat flower‐like hierarchical TiO₂ micro/nanoparticles onto cotton fabric substrates (TiO₂@Cotton). Furthermore, robust superhydrophobic TiO₂@Cotton surfaces are constructed by the combination of hierarchical structure creation and low surface energy material modification, which allows versatility for self‐cleaning, laundering durability, and oil/water separation. Compared with hydrophobic cotton fabric, the TiO₂@Cotton exhibits a superior antiwetting and self‐cleaning property with a contact angle (CA) lager than 160° and a sliding angle lower than 5°. The superhydrophobic TiO₂@Cotton shows excellent laundering durability against mechanical abrasion without an apparent reduction of the water contact angle. Moreover, the micro/nanoscale hierarchical structured cotton fabrics with special wettability are demonstrated to selectively collect oil from oil/water mixtures efficiently under various conditions (e.g., floating oil layer or underwater oil droplet or even oil/water mixtures). In addition, it is expected that this facile strategy can be widely used to construct multifunctional fabrics with excellent self‐cleaning, laundering durability, and oil/water separation. The work would also be helpful to design and develop new underwater superoleophobic/superoleophilic materials and microfluidic management devices.     

Macrocycle Self-Assembly Hydrogel for High-Efficient Oil–Water Separation

Supramolecular hydrogels involved macrocycles have been explored widely in recent years, but it remains challenging to develop hydrogel based on solitary macrocycle with super gelation capability. Here, the construction of lantern[3₃]arene-based hydrogel with low critical gelation concentration (0.05 wt%), which can be used for efficient oil–water separation, is reported. The lantern[3₃]arenes self-assemble into hydrogen-bonded organic nanoribbons, which intertwine into entangled fibers to form hydrogel. This hydrogel which exhibits reversible pH-responsiveness characteristics can be coated on stainless-steel mesh by in situ sol-gel transformation. The resultant mesh exhibits excellent oil–water separation efficiency (>99%) and flux (>6 × 10⁴ L m⁻² h⁻¹). This lantern[3₃]arene-based hydrogel not only sheds additional light on the gelation mechanisms for supramolecular hydrogels, but also extends the application of macrocycle-based hydrogels as functional interfacial materials.     

Preparation of Superhydrophilic and Underwater Superoleophobic Nanofiber‐Based Meshes from Waste Glass for Multifunctional Oil/Water Separation

The deterioration of water resources due to oil pollution, arising from oil spills, industrial oily wastewater discharge, etc., urgently requires the development of novel functional materials for highly efficient water remediation. Recently, superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic materials have drawn significant attention due to their low oil adhesion and selective oil/water separation. However, it is still a challenge to prepare low‐cost, environmentally friendly, and multifunctional materials with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, which can be stably used for oil/water separation under harsh working conditions. Here, the preparation of nanofiber‐based meshes derived from waste glass through a green and sustainable route is demonstrated. The resulting meshes exhibit excellent performance in the selective separation of a wide range of oil/water mixtures. Importantly, these meshes can also maintain the superwetting property and high oil/water separation efficiency under various harsh conditions. Furthermore, the as‐prepared mesh can remove water‐soluble contaminants simultaneously during the oil/water separation process, leading to multifunctional water purification. The low‐cost and environmentally friendly fabrication, harsh‐environment resistance, and multifunctional characteristics make these nanofiber‐based meshes promising toward oil/water separation under practical conditions.     

Durable and Recyclable Superhydrophobic Fabric and Mesh for Oil–Water Separation

The authors report durable and recyclable nanocomposite superhydrophobic coatings on two different substrates of fabric and mesh as prepared by titania nanoparticles and polydimethysiloxane (PDMS). The felted wool fabric and the steel mesh are initially coated with a thin layer of PDMS, which is followed by the deposition of nanocomposite coating of titania nanoparticles embedded in PDMS. The dual surface modification of two kinds of substrates generates highly hydrophobic surface character, which is retained after durability performance as measured in ultrasonication, sand, and emery paper abrasion tests. Oil–water separation experiments are performed using water mixtures with four oils, that is, n‐hexane, toluene, kerosene, and diesel to ensure the industrial applications of prepared composite materials. Moreover, nanocomposite coatings are tested for several cycles of oil–water separation in harsh conditions such as hot water, sodium chloride, and hydrochloric acid. The adopted approach improves the separation performance by inducing durability of the prepared nanocomposite coatings along with introducing recyclable character.     

3D‐Printed Biomimetic Super‐Hydrophobic Structure for Microdroplet Manipulation and Oil/Water Separation

Biomimetic functional surfaces are attracting increasing attention for various technological applications, especially the superhydrophobic surfaces inspired by plant leaves. However, the replication of the complex hierarchical microstructures is limited by the traditional fabrication techniques. In this paper, superhydrophobic micro‐scale artificial hairs with eggbeater heads inspired by Salvinia molesta leaf was fabricated by the Immersed surface accumulation three dimensional (3D) printing process. Multi‐walled carbon nanotubes were added to the photocurable resins to enhance the surface roughness and mechanical strength of the microstructures. The 3D printed eggbeater surface reveals interesting properties in terms of superhydrophobilicity and petal effect. The results show that a hydrophilic material can macroscopically behave as hydrophobic if a surface has proper microstructured features. The controllable adhesive force (from 23 μN to 55 μN) can be easily tuned with different number of eggbeater arms for potential applications such as micro hand for droplet manipulation. Furthermore, a new energy‐efficient oil/water separation solution based on our biomimetic structures was demonstrated. The results show that the 3D‐printed eggbeater structure could have numerous applications, including water droplet manipulation, 3D cell culture, micro reactor, oil spill clean‐up, and oil/water separation.     

微相分离结构聚氨酯膜的丁醇/水体系渗透汽化分离

制备了端羟基聚丁二烯-聚氨酯（HTPB-PU）和端羟基聚丁二烯-乙烯基三乙氧基硅烷-聚氨酯（HTPB-VTES-PU）两种聚氨酯膜。采用傅立叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）、差示扫描量热仪（DSC）和透射电镜（TEM）分析表征了两种膜的结构,结果发现,HTPB-PU有两个玻璃化转变温度,其膜具有一定程度的微相分离结构;HT...     

Facile Fabrication of Eco‐Friendly Durable Superhydrophobic Material from Eggshell with Oil/Water Separation Property

Most superhydrophobic surfaces are fragile and even lose their functions under harsh conditions especially in outdoor applications. In this study, we have demonstrated a facile strategy for fabricating eco‐friendly and mechanical durable superhydrophobic material from eggshell. The as‐prepared superhydrophobic materials possess not only excellent self‐cleaning property and under oil superhydrophobicity, but also high‐efficient oil/water separation capability. More importantly, the obtained materials show outstanding and mechanical durable water repellency, which can maintain superhydrophobicity after 360 cm abrasion length of sandpaper. In addition, the materials also show durable superhydrophobic toward strong acidic/alkali solutions, UV irradiation, and water droplet impact, which demonstrates the outstanding chemical and environmental stability. This facile fabrication of the mechanical durable superhydrophobic materials and the utilization of daily garbage will provide the new ideas for engineering materials and accelerate the real application of the super‐repellent materials.