Capillary-driven spontaneous oil/water separation by superwettable twines

Nanoscale. 2015 Aug 21;7(31):13164-7. doi: 10.1039/c5nr03670d. Epub 2015 Jul 17.

Abstract

A superwettable twine showing excellent absorption and self-removal capacity of oil and water from oil/water mixtures is reported. Superwettable materials are fabricated by simple modification of commercial twines with plasma and hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, respectively. We show that the absorption and self-transportation of oil and water are driven by the capillary force resulting from the microgaps and microgrooves on twines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't