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Dual-scale TiO₂ and SiO₂ particles in combination with a fluoroalkylsilane and polydimethylsiloxane superhydrophobic/superoleophilic coating for efficient solvent–water separation

Heale, FL; Einhorn, M; Page, K; Parkin, IP; Carmalt, CJ; (2019) Dual-scale TiO₂ and SiO₂ particles in combination with a fluoroalkylsilane and polydimethylsiloxane superhydrophobic/superoleophilic coating for efficient solvent–water separation. RSC Advances , 9 (35) pp. 20332-20340. 10.1039/c9ra02700a. Green open access

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Abstract

Surfaces that have unique wettabilities and are simultaneously superhydrophobic with water contact angles > 150°, and superoleophilic with oil contact angles < 5°, are of critical importance in the oil/solvent–water separation field. This work details the facile preparation of highly efficient oil–water separation devices that successfully combine hierarchical surface roughening particles and low surface energy components with porous substrates. Coatings were generated using TiO₂ and hydrophobic-SiO₂ micro/nanoparticle loadings which were then embedded within polydimethylsiloxane, commercially known as Sylgard® 184, and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (FAS) polymer mixtures. The resulting slurries were dip coated onto copper meshes with varying pore diameters (30, 60 and 100 meshes had 595, 250 and 149 μm pore dimensions respectively). Functional testing proved that mesh substrates coated in the lowest Sylgard® 184 : FAS polymer ratio formulations displayed heightened water repellency and retained their superoleophilic properties upon repeat testing. The largest average water contact angle of 145 ± 1°, was recorded on a copper 30 mesh substrate with a coating comprising H-SiO₂ microparticles and TiO₂ nanoparticles in a 1 : 9 polymer mixture of Sylgard® and FAS. The coating's extreme oil affinity was supported by high solvent–water separation efficiencies (≥99%) which withstood numerous testing/washing cycles.

Type: Article
Title: Dual-scale TiO₂ and SiO₂ particles in combination with a fluoroalkylsilane and polydimethylsiloxane superhydrophobic/superoleophilic coating for efficient solvent–water separation
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1039/c9ra02700a
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c9ra02700a
Language: English
Additional information: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2019. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > MAPS Faculty Office
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10078500
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