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Twofold bioinspiration of TiO2-PDA hybrid fabrics with desirable robustness and remarkable polar/nonpolar liquid separation performance

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Abstract

The fundamental relationship between microstructure, constituent, processing and performances of separating materials is really a vital issue. Traditional preparation methods for separation membranes are complex, time-consuming and easy to be fouled. Also, the durability of conventional coatings on membrane is poor. By combination of bioinspiration from mussel adhesive and fish scales’ underwater superoleophobicity, we propose a general route to prepare organic-inorganic hybrid coatings, while no complex apparatus is needed. Specifically, based on the biomimetic adhesion of polydopamine (PDA), we used it as a binder to adhere TiO2 nanoparticles and built rough microstructure on fabric. In this way, we obtained TiO2-PDA treated fabric with special wettability. These TiO2-PDA treated samples owned superamphiphilicity in air, underwater superoleophobicity (underwater oil contact angles (OCAs) > 150°), underoil superhydrophobicity (underoil water contact angles (WCAs)> 150°), excellent multiresistance; and can separate polar/nonpolar liquid mixture effectively. It also owned superaerophobicity underwater (underwater bubble contact angles (BCAs) > 150°). The proposed TiO2-PDA coatings are highly expected to be employed for real situation of water pollution remediation, self-cleaning, oil extraction and harsh chemical engineering issues.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51705138).

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Author notes

  1. G.C., S.C. and X.Z. contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials (MOE), Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, China

    Guopeng Chen, Shuwen Chen, Xinyi Zhang, Fuchao Yang & Jing Fu

  2. School of Chemistry and Environment Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, China

    Jing Fu

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  1. Guopeng Chen
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  2. Shuwen Chen
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  3. Xinyi Zhang
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  4. Fuchao Yang
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  5. Jing Fu
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Correspondence to Fuchao Yang.

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Chen, G., Chen, S., Zhang, X. et al. Twofold bioinspiration of TiO2-PDA hybrid fabrics with desirable robustness and remarkable polar/nonpolar liquid separation performance. Front. Mater. Sci. 15, 124–137 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-021-0534-z

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