A carbon nanotube-embedded conjugated polymer mesh with controlled oil absorption and surface regeneration via in situ wettability switch

Jian Xu; Shichen Fu; Wei Xu; Eui-Hyeok Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.08.041

A carbon nanotube-embedded conjugated polymer mesh with controlled oil absorption and surface regeneration via in situ wettability switch

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Dec 15:532:790-797. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.08.041. Epub 2018 Aug 14.

Authors

Jian Xu¹, Shichen Fu¹, Wei Xu¹, Eui-Hyeok Yang²

Affiliations

¹ Stevens Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department, 1 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA.
² Stevens Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering Department, 1 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. Electronic address: eyang@stevens.edu.

PMID: 30138890
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.08.041

Abstract

This paper presents a mesh-type absorbent made of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-embedded polypyrrole dodecylbenzenesulfonate (PPy(DBS)) surface for controlled absorption and release of oils and regeneration of polymer surfaces toward continuous oil/water separation. The mesh absorbs dichloromethane (DCM) under oxidation in aqueous environment and releases them under reduction via in situ switching of underwater wettability. CNTs were grown out of stainless steel surfaces and embedded into the PPy(DBS) film, which enhanced the switchable wettability as well as the surface regeneration. The CNT-embedded morphology improved oil retention by a factor of two in an oxidized state and decreased wettability switch time by 16% in a reduced state over the mesh without CNT embedment during 250 redox cyclic testing. A rolled 2 cm × 3 cm CNT-embedded PPy(DBS) mesh was furthermore used to demonstrate the continuous absorption and release of oils, during which DCM of 16 times of the absorbent weight was collected in 50 redox cycles.

Keywords: Conjugated polymer; In situ wettability switch; Interfacial tension; Oil/water separation; Surface adhesion; Surfactant.