Issue 15, 2017

A facile modification of steel mesh for oil–water separation

Abstract

The development of a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic steel mesh surface, which is durable and regenerable under aggressive conditions, has raised tremendous interest in oil–water separation applications. In this work, via a facile chemical etching method using a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid followed by treatment with lauric acid, a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic steel mesh surface was synthesized. The surface morphology analysis shows the presence of rough microstructures on the coated steel mesh surface. The coated mesh exhibited superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle of 171 ± 4.5° and a sliding angle of 4 ± 0.5°, and superoleophilicity, with an oil static contact angle of about 0°, that caused water to run off the mesh while allowing oil to permeate through it. Petroleum ether–water and benzene–water mixtures were successfully separated via a simple filtering method using the coated mesh with a separation efficiency of more than 99%. Additionally, the coating was found to be mechanically, thermally and chemically stable and regenerable. Furthermore, the water-drop impact dynamics for the coated mesh surface were also studied. The aforementioned properties of the durable coated steel mesh show that it is a good candidate for facile, fast, and repeatable oil–water separation applications.

Graphical abstract: A facile modification of steel mesh for oil–water separation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Apr 2017
Accepted
22 Jun 2017
First published
22 Jun 2017

New J. Chem., 2017,41, 7463-7471

A facile modification of steel mesh for oil–water separation

P. Varshney, D. Nanda, M. Satapathy, S. S. Mohapatra and A. Kumar, New J. Chem., 2017, 41, 7463 DOI: 10.1039/C7NJ01265A

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