Bioinspired Bionic Superhydrophobic Coating Based on Rosin Acid and TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles for Oil–Water Separation and Anti-icing
Wenting Wang, Zile Wang, Zhaoshuang Li, Chaoqi Chen, Yuanfeng Wei, Xu Xu, He Liu, Chuntao Kuang, Guoen Yang, Xingong Li, Yan Qing, Yiqiang Wu
Abstract
Oily wastewater discharge in daily life and industry poses a major threat to the environment and human health. Recently, superhydrophobic materials for the treatment of oily wastewater have attracted much attention. Herein, bioinspired from blueberry and mussel, a superhydrophobic coating (RA-S@TiO 2 coating) based on sulfhydryl-modified rosin acid (RA-S) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 ) was successfully prepared. To increase the micro/nano roughened structure on the material surface, TiO 2 nanoparticles with better self-cleaning properties were used as one of the coating components. The prepared RA-S@TiO 2 coating exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity (water contact angle greater than 153°) and superoleophilicity. What is more, the separation efficiency and flux of the RA-S@TiO 2 coating for various oil–water mixtures were greater than 95% and 6759 L·m –2 ·h –1, respectively. It was clearly found that the separation efficiency and flux remained above 95% and 6451 L·m –2 ·h –1 even after 10 separations. Moreover, the RA-S@TiO 2 coating exhibited desirable durability and stability as well as emulsion separation performance after the treatments. Droplets on the RA-S@TiO 2 coating demonstrated desirable anti-icing performance with freeze delays up to 1200 s at −18 °C. Furthermore, life cycle assessment revealed that the environmental impact of the RA-S@TiO 2 coating was significantly lower than that of the other two commercially available superhydrophobic materials. In conclusion, due to the environmental advantages of the RA-S@TiO 2 coating, it provided a sustainable solution for the preparation of a superhydrophobic material, which had a promising future in the fields of oil–water separation and anti-icing.