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Effective cleanup of oil contamination on bio-inspired superhydrophobic surface

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 26, pages 21321–21328 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

The oil-water separation is a popular issue and the removal of oil from bulk water is also meaningful especially in oil spill incident, which not only wastes valuable energy resources but also threatens the ecological system and human health. Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic materials are very promising for the efficient oil removal from bulk water. Reported herein was a novel and easily operated superhydrophobic surface dip coating from a paint-like suspension containing two different sizes TiO2 and perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane. Aluminum foil substrate, which is flexile and cost-efficient, was bonded with commercial water-proof double-sided adhesive tape (DSAT) to fix the paint to improve the mechanical strength. The coated aluminum foil exhibited rapid sorption/desorption rate (267 L/h m2), high oil sorption capacity (21 g/g), and excellent recyclability (≫ 15 recycling times). After 15 recycling times of sorption/desorption, the coated surface morphology still remained hierarchical micro- and nanostructures and the water contact angle still reached ~ 150°, indicating its superhydrophobic property. Meanwhile, the cost of oil removal of the coated material can match that of the commercial sorbent. We anticipate that the coated superhydrophobic aluminum foil will show outstanding performances on oil absorption and have good applications on a large scale.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Tao LV from Center of Integrated Water-Energy-Food studies (iWEF), School of Animal, Rural, and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus NG25 0QF, UK.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 41573114; 41877473).

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Nanotechnology and Health Effects, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Qin Zhou, Leyang Wang & Qi Xu

  2. School of Environmental & Safety Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China

    Leyang Wang & Yuan Zhao

  3. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Qi Xu

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  1. Qin Zhou
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  2. Leyang Wang
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  3. Qi Xu
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  4. Yuan Zhao
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Correspondence to Qin Zhou.

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Zhou, Q., Wang, L., Xu, Q. et al. Effective cleanup of oil contamination on bio-inspired superhydrophobic surface. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 21321–21328 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05157-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05157-3

Keywords

  • Oil sorption
  • Superhydrophobic
  • TiO2
  • Perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane
  • Aluminum foil