Laser-structured superhydrophobic/superoleophilic aluminum surfaces for efficient oil/water separation
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Laser-structured superhydrophobic/superoleophilic aluminum surfaces for efficient oil/water separation Lie Chen 1 & Yating Huang 1 & Tao Yang 2 & Peter Bennett 1 & Zhong Zheng 1 & Qibiao Yang 1 & Dun Liu 1 Received: 10 January 2020 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The current demand for oil/water separation with an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method is increasing. A laser-structured superhydrophobic/superoleophilic aluminum was prepared by using a nanosecond laser. The aluminum plate was used for oil/water separation without external force, which can replace the traditional porous materials. The effect of hole diameter and spacing on the effectiveness of oil/water separation is discussed. The results show that the aluminum plate with a hole size of 0.5 mm can be considered a more appropriate choice for the oil/water mixtures with large water content. In addition, complete separation of oil and water can be achieved in the hole spacing range of 1.0–3.0 mm. The oil separation speed can be increased without changing the water permeability by reducing the hole spacing, which is positively related to the hole spacing. Separation efficiencies were tested with various oil/water mixtures. The aluminum plate with a hole size of 0.5 mm can quickly separate the different oil mixtures with less than 50% oil content while achieving an oil separation efficiency of up to 99%. Due to the difference in dynamic viscosity of various oil phases, the separation efficiencies of the petrol, kerosene, and diesel are slightly different but can still be maintained above 99%. The laser-processed aluminum plate has several advantages of high porosity, high surface of superhydrophobic properties, and easy tunable structures. In practical applications, the hole size and the spacing should be appropriately adjusted according to specific conditions, such as different oils, the mixing ratios, etc., to obtain the best separation efficiency and speed. Keywords Nanosecond laser . Perforated . Superhydrophobic/superoleophilic aluminum plate . Oil/water separation . Hole size . Hole spacing
Introduction Crude oil and its refined products (e.g., petrol, kerosene, diesel, etc.) frequently leak into marine environments during their extraction, refinement, storage, transportation, and usage, thus resulting in environmental pollution. This environmental problem has become prevalent throughout the world (Yang et al. 2016). These contaminants have a well-known negative impact on certain parts of the ocean. Nowadays, the treatment Responsible Editor: Angeles Blanco * Dun Liu [email protected] 1
Laser Group, School of Mechanical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, China
2
School of Naval Architecture and Navigation, Wuhan Technical College of Communications, Wuhan, China
of marine pollution has become the focus of research today. On the one hand, it is an effective measure to reduce emissions (Chitrakar et al. 2019). On the other h
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