Bioinspired polydopamine particles-assisted construction of superhydrophobic surfaces for oil/water separation

Bioinspired from the mussel adhesive protein (polydopamine) and superhydrophobic lotus leaf (hierarchical surface structures), a general way is developed to superhydrophobically modify various commercial materials aiming for the selective removal of oils/organic solvents from water. [Display omitted...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of colloid and interface science 2016-11, Vol.482, p.240-251
Main Authors: Shang, Bin, Wang, Yanbing, Peng, Bo, Deng, Ziwei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Hierarchical structure
Mussel-inspired chemistry
Oil/water separation
Polydopamine
Superhydrophobicity
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Summary:Bioinspired from the mussel adhesive protein (polydopamine) and superhydrophobic lotus leaf (hierarchical surface structures), a general way is developed to superhydrophobically modify various commercial materials aiming for the selective removal of oils/organic solvents from water. [Display omitted] Frequent oil spillages and industrial discharge of oils/organic solvents have induced severe environmental pollution and ecological damage, and a great cost in energy and finance has been consumed to solve the problems raised. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a surface hydrophobic modification that can be applied to materials with desired properties of high separation efficiency, excellent selectivity and stable performance in extreme conditions during the oil/water separation. Herein, with combined bioinspirations from mussel adhesive protein (polydopamine) and superhydrophobic lotus leaf (hierarchical structures), we develop a general way to superhydrophobically modify various commercial materials, aiming for the selective removal of oils/organic solvents from water. In this procedure, immersing commercial materials (e.g. melamine sponge, stainless steel mesh, nylon netting and cotton cloth) into water/ethanol/ammonia mixtures at a low concentration of dopamine (DA, 2mg/mL) allows a polydopamine (PDA) coating with a tunable roughness appearing on the substrate in one step. This is because DA can self-polymerize and form PDA particles with a catalyst of ammonia, attaching to any surfaces due to abundant catechol and amine groups in PDA, and ultimately, resulting in hierarchical structures. The subsequent decoration with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecanethiol features the surface superhydrophobic and superoleophilic. This approach is straightforward and economic, and carried out under a mild, environmental-benign circumstance, with nonspecific substrate demands. In addition, the as-prepared superhydrophobic materials exhibit excellent separation performances including high absorption/separation capacity, excellent selectivity, and extraordinary recyclability for collecting various oils/organic solvents from water. These superhydrophobic materials have also verified to be highly chemical resistant, environment stable and mechanically durable. Therefore, this simplicity and versatility of the direct mussel-inspired approach may facilitate the fast development of oil/water separation materials for applications in the field of water remediation, clean-up of oil spi
ISSN:0021-9797
1095-7103
DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.07.081