We have experimentally studied the effect of electrolytes on gas oversolubility and liquid outflow from hydrophobic nanochannels. By immersing nanoporous material with the same porous structure and surface properties into four different aqueous electrolyte solutions with the same surface tension, the excessive solid−liquid interfacial tension of the resulted liquid nanofoam (LN) systems has been set as a constant. Upon unloading, partial liquid outflow has been observed and quantified. As the four LN systems show different degrees of recoverability, it suggests that the degree of liquid outflow is highly sensitive to the ion species. In addition, different from bulk phase scenario, the anions have a more profound effect than cations on gas oversolubility. Lower bulk gas solubility and larger gas oversolubility factor lead to higher degree of liquid outflow and recoverability of the LN systems. This fundamental understanding on the mechanism of liquid outflow enables the development of nanofluidics-based system into reusable energy absorbers.
Liquid flow in nano-environment has been utilized as an advanced mechanism of energy absorption. While the process of liquid outflow from nanopores has been shown to have a significant effect on the system’s energy absorption efficiencies, its mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we have studied the liquid defiltration behavior of liquid nanofoam (LN) systems by controlling the infiltration depth. The LN samples, composed of a different non-wettable liquid phase and hydrophobic nanoporous silica with wide pore size distribution, have been compressed in two different loading modes under the quasi-static condition, i.e., the single-step compression and consecutive-step compression. Considerably different mechanical behaviors have been observed in these two loading modes, suggesting that the liquid outflow from nanopores is determined by the critical infiltration depth D*. The nanopore size effect on D* is further studied by a consecutive-step cyclic test. It has been shown that D* increases as the pore size gets smaller, which is related to gas solubility and diffusion rate in the nano-environment. The electrolyte concentration and temperature dependences of the critical infiltration depth have also been investigated. These findings provide a better understanding of the liquid outflow from nanopores and can be exploited to facilitate the design of next-generation reusable energy absorption systems.
Understanding liquid motion in nanoenvironment is of fundamental importance in nanofluidics-based systems. While the liquid outflow from hydrophobic nanochannels can significantly affect system performance, its underlying mechanism remains unclear so far. Here, we present an experimental study of the gas-phase effect on liquid outflow behavior from hydrophobic nanochannels in a liquid nanofoam (LN) system. Four LN samples, consisting of same liquid−solid composition but different amounts of the gas phase, are characterized by cyclic quasi-static compression tests. A remarkable difference in the LN system reusability has been observed, indicating that the liquid outflow behavior is highly sensitive to the amount of the gas phase. As the gas amount increases, the degree of liquid outflow from hydrophobic nanochannels is considerably promoted. This promotive effect is because of the suppression of gas outflow and acceleration of bubble nucleation in the nanochannels. These fundamental findings open a new perspective on liquid outflow behavior and can facilitate the design of reusable nanofluidics-based energy absorbers.
Fundamentally understanding the gas−liquid interaction in a nanoenvironment is important in nanofluidics-based systems. Here, a systematically experimental study of the gas diffusion in a liquid phase confined in hydrophobic nanopores is presented. By holding a liquid nanofoam (LN) system at different pressure levels for various time durations, the gas diffusion behavior is quantified by analyzing the degree of liquid outflow from the hydrophobic nanopores. The results show that the gas diffusion progress exhibits an exponentially decaying rate. In addition, distinct from the bulk case, pressure poses a pronounced effect on the gas diffusion in the nanoconfined liquid. These findings extend the knowledge of gas−liquid interactions in nanofluidicsbased systems.
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