Orthogonal Wettability of Hierarchically Textured Metal Meshes as a Means of Separating Water/Oil Emulsions

Abstract

The removal of submicrometer-sized oil droplets from water remains a key challenge in engineering the separation of emulsions and has emerged as an urgent imperative given the increasing use of unconventional extractive processes. In this work, the authors demonstrate that a substrate with hierarchical texturation shows pronounced differences in the wettability of water and hexadecane, thereby, facilitating the separation of these two disparate liquids at room temperature and pressure. The multiscale textured substrates are assembled using a facile and readily scalable process, wherein ZnO nanotetrapods are spray-deposited onto a steel mesh with micron-sized features. Separation efficiencies well over 99% are accessible by simply flowing emulsions across these hierarchically textured surfaces.

Incorporation of Hydroxyethylcellulose-Functionalized Halloysite as a Means of Decreasing the Thermal Conductivity of Oilwell Cement

“…In recent times, the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process has emerged as one of the pre-eminent means of extracting viscous oil in the Canadian Oil Sands spread across Northern Alberta and Saskatchewan 3 , 4 . In this process, steam is injected down a wellbore through an injection well creating a steam chamber that increases the temperature of the viscous oil deposits, thereby reducing the viscosity of the oil and allowing it to drain down to a lower production well (under the influence of gravity) from which it is extracted using powerful pumps as an emulsified mixture of water and oil 5 , 6 . Apart from load-bearing characteristics, the cement components deployed in SAGD wellbores also have to endure the severe thermal cycling inherent in the SAGD process; the oilwell cement must further be flexible and yet dense in order to avoid microannulus formation, adhere conformally to metal tubing, and provide zonal isolation 7 – 9 .…”

Durable and Recyclable Superhydrophobic Fabric and Mesh for Oil–Water Separation

“…As a result, efforts are being made to minimize the pollution associated with oil-water mixtures by devising appropriate strategies for the separation of these immiscible liquids. [1,3] Among the worthwhile techniques such as air flotation, flocculation, and oil-absorbing materials, the superhydrophobic materials are gaining preferred interest, [4,5] as the rest involve complicated processing, high cost, and heavy machinery together with limited portability.…”

Effectiveness of zinc oxide-assisted photocatalysis for concerned constituents in reclaimed wastewater: 1,4-Dioxane, trihalomethanes, antibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)

“…Stock solutions of TCS and TCC (1 g/L) were prepared in acetone. TZnO were synthesized from Zn metal (99%, McMaster-Carr, Elmhurst, IL) as described previously (O'Loughlin et al, 2017). T-ZnO has an average of 12 m −1 surface area to volume ratio (O'Loughlin et al, 2017).…”