Macrocycle Self‐Assembly Hydrogel for High‐Efficient Oil–Water Separation

Li, Sheng-Hua; Li, Binbin; Zhao, Xin; Wu, Huang; Chai, Rui-Lin; Li, Guang-Yue; Zhu, Daoben; He, Guangrui; Haifu, Zhang; Xie, Ke; Cheng, Bowen; Zhao, Qian

doi:10.1002/smll.202301934

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…For the membranes with smart wettability performance, they can switch hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity or vice versa under external stimuli such as temperature, pH, − or light and have been successfully realized for the on-demand separation of both oil–water mixtures and oil–water emulsions . Especially, due to the appropriate LCST and good thermal stability, PNIPAM is considered one of the commercial valuable thermoresponsive polymers that are used in the fields of biological and environmental circumstances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Strategy of End Anchoring to Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Chains for the Thermo-Driven Controllable Oil–Water Separation

Zhou,

Feng,

Huang

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) chain with catechol end group was designed and successfully synthesized by a reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) procedure, and then, even via a simple one-step soaking method, it could be firmly grafted to many different substrates (e.g., a stainless-steel mesh, a nylon microfiltration membrane, an Al plate, and glass). Moreover, after the end anchoring, the formed thin and uniform coating of PNIPAM onto the surfaces of the stainless-steel mesh and the nylon microfiltration membrane would endow the surfaces with a valuable thermo-driven controllable separation ability for oil−water mixtures and emulsions, respectively. And below PNIPAM's lower critical solution temperature (LCST) (34 °C), the membranes exhibited hydrophilicity and underwater oleophobicity and thus can be used for the separation of a "light oil"/ water mixture and an O/W emulsion through a "removing water" process; meanwhile, above its LCST, the membranes show the opposite properties (hydrophobicity and oleophilicity) and thus are used to separate a "heavy oil"/water mixture and a W/O emulsion through a "removing oil" process. In addition, without changing the morphologies and pore sizes of the substrates, the membranes gave many excellent performances such as excellent recyclability, high separation efficiency and a thermo-driven controllable separation ability. So, the facile and effective strategy presented in this work that is suitable for the coupling of PNIPAM with various substrates would also supply an inspiration to the effect conjunction for heterogeneous materials of other functional polymers and substrates.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Strategy of End Anchoring to Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Chains for the Thermo-Driven Controllable Oil–Water Separation

Zhou,

Feng,

Huang

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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“…28−30 Polymer hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer networks infiltrated by water, and the porous network structure allows water molecules to permeate. 31,32 However, increasing the thickness of the hydrogel layer may reduce the membrane's separation flux. Thus, constructing a nanofibrous hydrogel composite structure will be a good way to balance the separation flux and antifouling performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stimulus-responsive separation membranes can effectively prevent oil contamination and achieve continuous on-demand oil/water separation by changing the membrane surface wettability under external stimuli (e.g., pH, , light, − temperature, − electricity, , magnetism, − and pressure , ). Stimulus-responsive hydrogels also exhibit superiority toward complex wastewater (such as multiphase heavy oil/water/light oil mixtures). − Polymer hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer networks infiltrated by water, and the porous network structure allows water molecules to permeate. , However, increasing the thickness of the hydrogel layer may reduce the membrane’s separation flux. Thus, constructing a nanofibrous hydrogel composite structure will be a good way to balance the separation flux and antifouling performance …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Separation and Photodegradation of Dye-Containing Oil/Water Mixtures with a Photothermally Responsive PNIPAm-MXene/PAN-PNIPAm Nanofibrous Hydrogel Membrane

Huang,

Wen,

Huang

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Nano Mater.

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Although several separation membranes for the purification of dye-containing oily wastewater have been reported, achieving continuous onestep separation and photodegradation of complex oil/water effluents containing dyes is still a significant challenge. In previous studies, the purification of oil/ water mixtures has typically involved a two-step process involving the initial separation of oil/water mixtures followed by the subsequent photodegradation of organic dyes. This is because one-step purification requires the membrane to concurrently possess an excellent separation efficiency and photodegradation ability to ensure efficient degradation of dyes as they rapidly pass through the separation membrane. Herein, we propose a photothermally responsive poly(Nisopropylacrylamide)-MXene/polyacrylonitrile-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanofibrous hydrogel membrane (PNIPAm-MXene/PAN-PNIPAm, PMPP membrane). The PMPP membrane is composed of a PNIPAm-MXene hydrogel bonded to the surface of a PAN-PNIPAm nanofibrous membrane. The PNIPAm-MXene hydrogel layer imparts excellent photothermally responsive wettability, photodegradation activity, and antifouling properties to the membrane. The PAN-PNIPAm nanofibrous membrane provides a porous structure that ensures the highly efficient separation of complex oil/water mixtures. The PMPP membrane achieves simultaneous one-step separation and photodegradation of complex oil/water effluents under light irradiation, particularly in the case of multiphase heavy oil/water/light oil mixtures containing both oily and water-soluble organic dyes and oil−water emulsions. The degradation and separation efficiencies of the PMPP membrane exceed 99.5%. Even after 20 cycles, the degradation rates of Sudan IV and methyl blue (MB) remain above 95.7 and 99.9%, respectively.

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“…In practical applications, in addition to the industrial demand for cleaning up large volumes of mixed organics, the separation of tiny mixed organic droplets is also crucial for microchemical reactions, drug delivery, and chemical reagent recovery. The existing superwetting membrane separation techniques are effective for separating the bulk mixture − but are somewhat powerless when aiming to separate microliters of mixed organic droplets into two pure phases . In addition, the existing superwetting membrane separation technologies still need energy input to achieve separation, which is not desirable .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous Separation of Immiscible Organic Droplets on Asymmetric Wedge Channels with Hierarchical Microchannels

Tang,

Zhu,

Bai

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Spontaneous separation of immiscible organic droplets has substantial research implications for environmental protection and resource regeneration. Compared to the widely explored separation of oil–water mixtures, there are fewer reports on separating mixed organic droplets on open surfaces due to the low surface tension differences. Efficient separation of mixed organic liquids by exploiting the rapid spontaneous transport of droplets on open surfaces remains a challenge. Here, through the fusion of inspiration from the fast droplet transport capability of Sarracenia trichome and the asymmetric wedge channel structure of shorebird beaks, this work proposes a spine with hierarchical microchannels and wedge channels (SHMW). Due to the synergistic effect of capillary force and asymmetric Laplace force, the SHMW can rapidly separate mixed organic droplets into two pure phases without requiring additional energy. In particular, the self-spreading of the oil solution on the open channel surface is utilized to amplify the surface energy difference between two droplets, and SHMW achieves the pickup of oil droplets floating on the surface of the organic solution. The maximum separation efficiency on 3-SHMW can reach 99.63%, and it can also realize the antigravity separation of mixed organic droplets with a surface tension difference as low as 0.87 mN·m–1. Furthermore, SHMW performs controllable separation, oil droplet pickup, and continuous separation and collection of mixed organic droplets. It is expected that this cooperative structure composed of hierarchical microchannels and wedge channels will be realized in resource recovery or chemical reactions in industrial production processes.

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Macrocycle Self‐Assembly Hydrogel for High‐Efficient Oil–Water Separation

Cited by 17 publications

References 69 publications

A Strategy of End Anchoring to Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Chains for the Thermo-Driven Controllable Oil–Water Separation

A Strategy of End Anchoring to Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Chains for the Thermo-Driven Controllable Oil–Water Separation

Separation and Photodegradation of Dye-Containing Oil/Water Mixtures with a Photothermally Responsive PNIPAm-MXene/PAN-PNIPAm Nanofibrous Hydrogel Membrane

Spontaneous Separation of Immiscible Organic Droplets on Asymmetric Wedge Channels with Hierarchical Microchannels

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