Marine oil spills seriously endanger sea ecosystems and coastal environments, resulting in a loss of energy resources. Environmental and economic demands emphasize the need for new methods of effectively separating oil-water mixtures, while collecting oil content at the same time. A new surface-tension-driven, gravity-assisted, one-step, oil-water separation method is presented for sustained filtration and collection of oil from a floating spill. A benchtop prototype oil collection device uses selective-wettability (superhydrophobic and superoleophilic) stainless steel mesh that attracts the floating oil, simultaneously separating it from water and collecting it in a container, requiring no preseparation pumping or pouring. The collection efficiencies for oils with wide ranging kinematic viscosities (0.32-70.4 cSt at 40 °C) are above 94%, including motor oil and heavy mineral oil. The prototype device showed high stability and functionality over repeated use, and can be easily scaled for efficient cleanup of large oil spills on seawater. In addition, a brief consolidation of separation requirements for oil-water mixtures of various oil densities is presented to demonstrate the versatility of the material system developed herein.
Robust superamphiphobic coatings fabricated by a facile chemical deposition and low surface energy modification were coated on both hard and soft materials to repel water and oils.
Superhydrophobic–superoleophilic (SS) materials have the prospect to be used in oil‐spill cleanup as treated felts because of their complete oil‐absorbing and water‐repelling properties. The main issues affecting the practical application of the SS materials are the low volume‐based absorption capacity (resulting in a high cost), the requirement for mechanical handling (squeeze out the oil) for recycling, and low storage stability of the collected oil. In this study, a barrel‐shaped oil skimmer mainly composed of an SS Cu foam and a glass barrel is developed as a potential step‐change device to enable separation of oil and water. The SS Cu active component is fabricated by chemical etching and stearic acid modification. The demonstrator oil skimmer quickly and selectively absorbs and collects a variety of oils from a polluted water surface, showing a high separation efficiency and volume‐based absorption capacity. The device can be easily scaled up. In addition to the high absorption capacity, the as‐prepared oil skimmer filters and collects the floating oil into the barrel, removing the traditional mechanical handling. Moreover, the as‐prepared oil skimmer also shows good storage stability; no oil escapes from the skimmer under harsh conditions. The findings presented in this study facilitate a novel, simple, and low‐cost approach for oil‐spill cleanup.
Oil/water
separation has been addressed by various materials characterized with
superwettability, but most of the methods involve corrosive or toxic
chemicals which will cause environmental concerns. Proposed herein
is an environmentally friendly method to realize oil/water separation.
Nylon mesh is exposed to atmospheric pressure plasma for surface modification,
by which micro-/nanostructures and oxygen-containing groups are created
on nylon fibers. Consequently, the functionalized mesh possesses superhydrophilicity
in air and thus superoleophobicity underwater. The water prewetted
mesh is then used to separate oil/water mixtures with the separation
efficiency above 97.5% for various oil/water mixtures. Results also
demonstrate that the functionalized nylon mesh has excellent recyclability
and durability in terms of oil/water separation. Additionally, polyurethane
sponge slice and polyester fabric are also functionalized and employed
to separate oil/water mixtures efficiently, demonstrating the wide
suitability of this method. This simple, green, and highly efficient
method overcomes a nontrivial hurdle for environmentally safe separation
of oil/water mixtures and offers insights into the design of advanced
materials for practical oil/water separation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.