Self‐Replenishable Anti‐Waxing Organogel Materials

Abstract

Solid deposition, such as the formation of ice on outdoor facilities, the deposition of scale in water reservoirs, the sedimentation of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) in sewer systems, and the precipitation of wax in petroleum pipelines, cause a serious waste of resources and irreversible environmental pollution. Inspired by fish and pitcher plants, we present a self‐replenishable organogel material which shows ultra‐low adhesion to solidified paraffin wax and crude oil by absorption of low‐molar‐mass oil from its crude‐oil environment. Adhesion of wax on the organogel surface was over 500 times lower than adhesion to conventional material surfaces and the wax was found to slide off under the force of gravity. This design concept of a gel with decreased adhesion to wax and oil can be extended to deal with other solid deposition problems.

Designing Bioinspired Anti‐Biofouling Surfaces based on a Superwettability Strategy

“…In addition to the liquid-infused porous structure based slippery surfaces, organogel-based slippery surfaces [ 62,[67][68][69][70][71] have been also developed and utilized for anti-biofouling. Yao et al reported lubricant-swollen fl uorogels by photocuring perfl uorinated alkyl acrylate monomers (2-perfl uorooctylethyl acrylate (PFOEA) or 2-perfl uorohexylethyl acrylate (PFHEA)) and fl uorinated macromolecular crosslinker (perfl uoropolyether dimethacrylate (PFPE-DMA)) and subsequently swelling with fl uorinated lubricants (FC-70).…”

Steric‐Structure‐Dependent Gel Formation, Hierarchical Structures, Rheological Behavior, and Surface Wettability

“…Supramolecular gels, a type of self‐assembled material, have received a great deal of attention due to their potential applications in biomaterials, catalyzers, electronic devices, templates for nanostructures, sensors, drug carriers, and oil recovery . Supramolecular gels are generated by self‐assembly of the gelator in organic solvent or water through intermolecular noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, coordination bonds, electrostatic interactions, π–π stacking, van der Waals forces, charge‐transfer interactions, and metal–ligand coordination . These noncovalent interactions can provide highly organized molecular architectures that display reversible, instant, and visual changes in response to external stimuli, such as ultrasound, shearing stress, light, heating, magnetism, ions, pH, chiral compounds, enzymes, and gases.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Supramolecular gels are generated by self-assembly of the gelator in organic solvent or water through intermolecular noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, coordinationb onds, electrostatic interactions, p-p stacking, van der Waals forces, charge-transfer interactions,a nd metal-ligand coordination. [21][22][23][24][25] These noncova-lent interactions can provide highly organized moleculara rchitectures that display reversible, instant,a nd visual changes in responset oe xternals timuli, such as ultrasound, shearing stress, light, heating,m agnetism,i ons, pH, chiral compounds, enzymes,a nd gases. Typically,s upramolecular gels are formed by heatingalow-molecular-weight (LMW) gelator in an appropriate solvent at as pecific concentration, then cooling.…”

Recent Advances in Bioinspired Gel Surfaces with Superwettability and Special Adhesion

“…[121] Of note, the hydrogels used for adhesives were reviewed recently [122][123][124][125] and will be not discussed herein. [127] Due to the existence of the thin oil surface layer, the adhesion of solidified paraffin wax on the organogel surface was more than 500 times lower than that of conventional material surfaces. [126] Yao et al presented a self-replenishable PDMS organogel swollen with petroleum, showing sustainable ultralow adhesion to solidified paraffin wax and crude oil by absorption of low-molar-mass oil from its crude-oil environment (Figure 10b).…”

“…[126] Yao et al presented a self-replenishable PDMS organogel swollen with petroleum, showing sustainable ultralow adhesion to solidified paraffin wax and crude oil by absorption of low-molar-mass oil from its crude-oil environment (Figure 10b). [127] Copyright 2015, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. c) Self-replenishing organogel surface for adaptive antisolid adhesion by the stimulus-responsive release of liquids. The shear stress of the wax was only 0.5 kPa on such organogel surface, leading to its easy-sliding under flow conditions.…”