Antifouling graphene oxide membranes for oil-water separation via hydrophobic chain engineering.

Engineering surface chemistry to precisely control interfacial interactions is crucial for fabricating superior antifouling coatings and separation membranes. Here, we present a hydrophobic chain engineering strategy to regulate membrane surface at a molecular scale. Hydrophilic phytic acid and hydrophobic perfluorocarboxylic acids are sequentially assembled on a graphene oxide membrane to form an amphiphilic surface.

Photo-tailored heterocrystalline covalent organic framework membranes for organics separation.

Organics separation for purifying and recycling environment-detrimental solvents is essential to sustainable chemical industries. Covalent organic framework (COF) membranes hold great promise in affording precise and fast organics separation. Nonetheless, how to well coordinate facile processing-high crystalline structure-high separation performance remains a critical issue and a grand challenge.

Assembling covalent organic framework membranes via phase switching for ultrafast molecular transport.

Fabrication of covalent organic framework (COF) membranes for molecular transport has excited highly pragmatic interest as a low energy and cost-effective route for molecular separations. However, currently, most COF membranes are assembled via a one-step procedure in liquid phase(s) by concurrent polymerization and crystallization, which are often accompanied by a loosely packed and less ordered structure. Herein, we propose a two-step procedure via a phase switching strategy, which decouples the polymerization process and the crystallization process to assemble compact and highly crystalline COF membranes.

Highly efficient separation of surfactant stabilized water-in-oil emulsion based on surface energy gradient and flame retardancy.

Hypothesis: Surface energy gradient would generate an imbalance force to drive tiny water droplets in dry air from the hydrophilic bumps to superhydrophobic domains, which has found on the Stenocara beetle's back.

Experiments: Inspired by this phenomenon, we introduced a pristine superhydrophilic filter paper on the lower surface energy superhydrophobic filter paper. ZnSn(OH) particles and polydimethylsiloxane were mixed to prepare the superhydrophobic coating, and the coating was spray-coated on the poly(dialkyldimethylammonium chloride) covered filter paper to separate the span 80 stabilized water-in-isooctane emulsion.

One-step preparation of superhydrophobic acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer coating for ultrafast separation of water-in-oil emulsions.

Hypothesis: Superhydrophobic membranes with opposite wettability toward water and oil are able to separate water-in-oil emulsions. By constructing porous and hierarchal-structured superhydrophobic coating on filter paper, we hope a quick separation process could be achieved due to the acceleration of both demulsification and penetration process.

Experiments: Here, superhydrophobic coatings were prepared by simply spraying environmental and cost-effective acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) colloid in dichloromethane onto filter paper.

Robust and thermal-healing superhydrophobic surfaces by spin-coating of polydimethylsiloxane.

Hypothesis: Superhydrophobic surfaces easily lose their excellent water-repellency after damages, which limit their broad applications in practice. Thus, the fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces with excellent durability and thermal healing should be taken into consideration.

Experiments: In this work, robust superhydrophobic surfaces with thermal healing were successfully fabricated by spin-coating method.

Two side chains, three supramolecules: exploration of fluorenone derivatives towards crystal engineering.

Structural diversity obtained through two-dimensional molecular self-assembly induced by the chain length effect has gained immense attention, not only because of its significance in crystal engineering but also for its potential application in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Three kinds of fluorenone derivative, named F-CC, F-CC, and F-CC, were synthesized and used for systematic exploration of their crystalline difference. At first, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction were performed to investigate their differences in morphology and three-dimensional crystal structure.

One-Step Fabrication of Non-Fluorinated Transparent Super-Repellent Surfaces with Tunable Wettability Functioning in Both Air and Oil.

In this paper, we have developed a one-step thermal treatment of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) liquid to create transparent super-repellent surface (TSS) and super-repellent powder. They are super-repellent toward water and ethylene glycol. During the one-step thermal treatment, PDMS soot is generated and deposited onto a glass slide (GS) surface to fabricate the TSS without fluorosilane modification.