In:
ECS Meeting Abstracts, The Electrochemical Society, Vol. MA2018-02, No. 27 ( 2018-07-23), p. 912-912
Abstract:
There exists a huge demand for efficient, reliable and safe technologies for oily water treatment and/or oil recovery. Among many techniques, absorbent-based technology shows the possibility of full removal and reclaim of oils from water, while bringing little adverse effects to the environment [1]. In spite of their promises, the issues pertaining to the recycling and regenerating of saturated absorbents have been less-explored [1, 2] . In this work, we demonstrate a conjugated polymer mesh as oil absorbent capable of in situ self-regeneration via wettability switch during electrochemical oxidation and reduction. We fabricate the absorbent through electropolymerization of polypyrrole-dodecylbenzenesulfonate (PPy(DBS)) on the surfaces of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown out of the surface of a stainless steel (SS) mesh. The PPy(DBS)-coated mesh shows oleophilic property when electrochemically oxidized, allowing the mesh to absorb oils (i.e., oils stick to the polymer surface; oils are trapped within the micro-pores of mesh). Under reduction, the surface switches to oleophobic (i.e., oils do not stick to the polymer surface), which allows trapped-oils by the mesh to be released, while in situ self-regenerating the polymer surface. We also observe that this switchable adhesion property is further enhanced incorporating CNTs into the structure. Using this approach, in situ absorbing and releasing of dichloromethane (DCM) in aqueous solution is demonstrated using a rolled-up absorbent mesh. We further demonstrate the wettability switch performance (characterizing the retention force when oxidized and switch time when reduced) of the absorbent during 250 redox cycles. In addition, the potential usage of this oil absorbent for oil/water separation is demonstrated by transporting DCM from one vial to another. Together, this novel adsorbent shows great promise towards high-efficient continuous oil/water separation applications. [1] J. Ge, H. Zhao, H. Zhu, J. Huang, L. Shi, and S. Yu, “Advanced sorbents for oil-spill cleanup: recent advances and future perspectives,” Advanced Materials, 28 (47), 10459–10490, (2016). [2] Z. Chu, Y. Feng, and S. Seeger, “Oil/water separation with selective superantiwetting/superwetting surface materials,” Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 54 (8), 2328–2338, (2015).
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2151-2043
DOI:
10.1149/MA2018-02/27/912
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
The Electrochemical Society
Publication Date:
2018
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2438749-6
Permalink
