多功能超润湿材料的设计制备与应用

仿生超润湿材料是指类似自然界中生命体具有的特殊浸润界面性质的一类材料。近20年来,研究人员通过模仿自然,揭示了一系列超润湿界面材料的构建机理,设计制备了多种仿生超润湿材料,并将这些具有特殊表面浸润性能的材料拓展应用到了国防、军工、航空航天、建筑、农业、医疗、海洋防污等众多领域。本文首先介绍表面润湿现象的基础理论,接着从仿生的角度出发,介绍了以仿荷叶、鱼鳞、沙漠甲虫、猪笼草为代表的几种拥有不同表面浸润性能的材料,并总结了这几种材料的仿生设计原理、结构与性能的关系以及所面临的问题。综述了近年来仿生超润湿材料在防污抗菌、防雾防霜防覆冰、油水分离等方面的应用进展,最后展望了仿生超润湿材料的发展方向。     

仿生多微纳米梯度界面的液滴动态行为调控

对液滴在界面上动态行为的研究是化学和材料领域的一个重要方向,许多先进的表面和界面技术,比如集水、防覆冰、防雾、微流体控制和传热等,均属于这一范畴.通过模仿自然界中具有特殊微纳米结构和特定化学组成的生物表面,设计并构筑相应具有特殊浸润性的仿生界面,对仿生界面材料的技术应用起到了良好的先导与示范作用.本文结合本课题组的研究...     

仿生超浸润界面传感技术在生物分析中的应用

仿生超浸润界面材料是构建高灵敏度、高特异性生物传感器的一类新兴材料,广泛适用于环境监测、生物医药、食品分析等领域。本文介绍了4种典型的超浸润界面,包括超疏水界面、超亲水界面、超润滑界面以及图案化浸润性界面,总结了界面浸润性调控在电化学、荧光、可视化、表面增强拉曼和可穿戴检测器件等技术中的研究和最新进展,阐述了传感器构建机理和检测机制。最后,对仿生超浸润界面传感技术在生命分析应用中存在的问题和现存的挑战进行了总结和讨论。     

仿生超疏水表面的抗冷凝失效研究进展

在存在一定过冷度或蒸汽过饱和度的条件下,水蒸汽可在固体表面凝结成核.随着过冷度增大,液滴成核半径将随之减小,冷凝液滴的生长融合将无法避免地发生在超疏水表面不可或缺的微/纳米结构内.若液滴不能及时排出,则会滞留在表面结构内并挤出空气,形成局部浸润,导致材料表面的超疏水性能下降或失效,甚至引起泛洪.本文首先总结了表面因冷凝...     

水下超疏油仿生特殊粘附界面材料的研究进展

水下超疏油表面由于在防污材料、微流控技术、生物粘附等方面具有广泛的应用前景,已经引起人们的普遍关注。本文简单介绍了浸润性在液相体系的相关概念及基础理论,综述了自然界中的水下超疏油低粘附生物体典型实例以及水下超疏油仿生特殊粘附界面材料的仿生制备和智能调控,并对水下超疏油仿生界面材料的发展进行了展望。     

纳米结构表面浸润性质的分子动力学研究

采用分子动力学方法研究了氩纳米液滴在铂金属及其模型固体表面的浸润现象,获得了液滴在平滑表面和三角纳米结构阵列表面的接触角和展布特性.研究表明,液滴与壁面的势能作用较强时,液滴与纳米结构表面为均匀浸润,但是由于迟滞效应,接触角受表面纳米结构的影响不明显;势能作用较弱时,纳米结构间隙中存在类似蒸汽的低密度相,液滴与纳米结构表面为非均匀浸润,接触角受纳米结构的影响而增大;表面纳米结构可以使表面具有超疏水性.     

仿生表面液固界面摩擦力的动态调控

仿生超疏水材料在自清洁、防雾抗冰、油水分离、集水等领域有着重要应用;而在不同疏水状态之间的转换将大大促进仿生超疏水材料在智能技术领域的应用.利用软印刷技术将玫瑰花表面微观结构转印到聚氨酯弹性体PU膜表面,利用机械应力实现表面微结构的动态实时调控,实现了表面微观结构在各向同性与各向异性之间的可逆转换;利用毛细管投影传感技...     

液滴的动态行为控制

正液滴动态行为控制在日常生活和工业生产中具有重要应用。从喷淋降温、防结冰到微流控和喷墨打印,都需要控制液滴的动态行为1,2。例如,喷淋降温过程需要延长液滴撞击到热表面后的接触时间,从而提高基底的散热量3。在干旱地区对冷凝的雾气进行收集时,需要控制液滴的定向移动4。目前,研究人员发展出各种各样的方法来控制液     

特殊浸润性表面的液滴凝结

以铝片为基底, 经电化学腐蚀和沸水处理制备了多级微纳米结构; 通过气相沉积和涂油分别制备了超疏水表面、 疏水超润滑(slippery)表面和亲水slippery表面; 探究了表面不同的特殊浸润性(超亲水、 超疏水、 疏水slippery和亲水slippery)对液滴凝结的影响. 结果表明, 超亲水表面的液滴凝结属于膜状冷凝, 超疏水表面和slippery表面的液滴凝结均属于滴状冷凝. 超疏水表面液滴合并时, 合并的液滴会不定向弹离表面. 疏水slippery表面和亲水slippery表面由于表面浸润性的不同导致液滴成核密度和液滴合并的差异, 亲水slippery表面凝结液滴的最大体积远大于疏水slippery表面凝结液滴的最大体积. 4种表面的雾气收集效率由大到小依次为亲水slippery表面>疏水slippery表面>超亲水表面>超疏水表面.     

仿生超疏水性表面的生物应用

自然给科学家和工程师带来仿生的灵感和启发. 近年来, 受自然界中荷叶的启发, 在充分考虑表面形貌和化学组成协同效应的基础上, 人们已经制备出许多仿生超疏水性表面, 这些表面在抗结冰、微流体、生物相容性等领域具有很多潜在的应用价值. 仿生超疏水性表面在生物领域的应用逐渐崭露头角, 研究发现, 超疏水性表面所俘获的空气能够减缓药物释放的速率, 因此利用此类表面作为药物的载体有望实现长期供药. 超疏水特性能在一定程度改善和提高生物体与材料表面之间的相互作用, 例如, 血小板几乎不在超疏水表面上进行粘附和活化避免了造成血栓和血凝, 因此仿生超疏水性表面可用于制备人造血管和与血液相接触的仪器. 细胞和生物分子在不同特殊润湿性表面具有不同的行为和现象, 如粘附、繁殖、吸附等差异, 这有助于进一步探索研究细胞和生物分子的信息功能, 是当前仿生超疏水性表面应用的重要研究方向之一. 本综述简单介绍了经典的润湿模型, 重点总结了仿生超疏水表面在生物领域的应用, 其主要包括控制药物释放、提高血液相容性、蛋白质吸附研究、细胞行为研究、生物分子和细胞微图案化等. 最后, 对仿生超疏水性表面在生物领域研究应用进行了展望.     

Discrimination of ionic pollutants except condensation nuclei of acid fog using an ultrasonic humidifier.

Fog droplets in the atmosphere are first produced by the activation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which are originally some ionic compound. Subsequently, the nuclei grow by vapor diffusion. Fog droplets are polluted through the activation process and successive diffusion growth and residence (post activation). We cannot distinguish the effects of the two pollution processes of natural fog water samples. We found that fog droplets can be produced artificially without CCN using an ultrasonic humidifier. Because the artificial fog droplets are not polluted by CCN, the movement of the fog droplets in natural air will take up some pollutants in the air. Consequently, the two pollution processes of fog (the activation of CCN and the post activation process) can be discriminated using data from field experiments. This sampling analytical method is extremely important for further research regarding fog, clouds and environmental chemistry.     

Removal of Organic Pollutants from Water Using Superwetting Materials

The frequent occurrence of water pollution accidents and the leakage of organic pollutants have caused severe environmental and ecological crisis. It is thus highly imperative to find efficient materials to solve the problem. Inspired by the lotus leaf, superwetting materials are receiving increasing attention in the field of removal of organic pollutants from water. Various superwetting materials have been successfully generated and integrated into devices for removal of organic pollutants from water. On the basis of our previous work in the field, we summarized in this account the progress of removal of (1) floating and underwater insoluble, (2) emulsified insoluble, and (3) both insoluble and soluble organic pollutants from water using superwetting materials including superhydrophobic & superoleophilic materials, superhydrophilic & underwater superoleophobic materials, and materials with controllable wettability. The superwetting materials are in the forms of 2D porous materials, 3D porous materials and particles, etc. Finally, the current state and future challenges in this field are discussed. We hope this account could shed light on the design of novel superwetting materials for efficient removal of organic pollutants from water.     

Biomimetic Self-Cleaning Anisotropic Solid Slippery Surface with Excellent Stability and Restoration

Anisotropic slippery surfaces are widely used in anti-fouling, smart control of liquid movement and directional liquid transportation. However, anisotropic slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) cannot meet the need of practical applications owing to loss and contamination of liquid lubricants. Inspired by solid epicuticular wax on the surface of land plant leaves, we herein report a type of biomimetic anisotropic solid slippery surface (ASSS) based on paraffin wax-incorporated paper with directional micro-grooves. This ASSS material shows anisotropic sliding behavior for liquid droplets with different surface tensions. It is demonstrated to be of excellent stability compared with SLIPS as the solid lubricant cannot be lost and stain the contacting surfaces. It also exhibits outstanding acid and alkali corrosion resistance and restoration capability upon physical damage. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic contaminants on our ASSS can be self-cleaned by using only water droplets. Our ASSS extends the fabrication of new slippery materials and overcomes some drawbacks of SLIPS.     

具有各向异性微纳米分级结构表面的构筑及其特殊浸润性的研究进展

自然界存在许多具有各向异性表面结构的生物,其表面表现出典型的对液体操控的方向性的差异。近年来,这种表面微结构的构筑引起了广泛的研究兴趣,已成为一个热点研究方向。天然的各向异性浸润表面是由复杂的异质微纳米结构组成,基于基础研究和应用推广的目的,可以将其简化为一些有序的方向性结构表面。本文介绍了现在应用广泛的几种各向异性微纳米分级结构的构筑方法,并对比分析其可行性。同时,文中还深入讨论了各向异性微纳米分级结构表面对于液体行为的调控。这种各向异性微纳米分级结构表面在微流体运输、微流控芯片等领域将有重要应用,也会对生命科学(比如生物芯片和重大疾病的早期诊断)、能源(比如电极材料的可控制备)和环境(比如污染物的分离及定向转化)等研究做出巨大的贡献。     

Microfluidic separation of satellite droplets as the basis of a monodispersed micron and submicron emulsification system

Emulsions are widely used to produce sol-gel, drugs, synthetic materials, and food products. Recent advancements in microfluidic droplet emulsion technology has enabled the precise sampling and processing of small volumes of fluids (picoliter to femtoliter) by the controlled viscous shearing in microchannels. However the generation of monodispersed droplets smaller than 1 microm without surfactants has been difficult to achieve. Normally, the generation of satellite droplets along with parent droplets is undesirable and makes it difficult to control volume and purity of samples in droplets. In this paper, however, several methods are presented to passively filter out satellite droplets from the generation of parent droplets and use these satellite droplets as the source for monodispersed production of submicron emulsions. A passive satellite droplet filtration system and a dynamic satellite droplet separation system are demonstrated. Satellite droplets are filtered from parent droplets with a two-layer channel geometry. This design allows the creation and collection of droplets that are less than 100 nm in diameter. In the dynamic separation system, satellite droplets of defined sizes can be selectively separated into different collecting zones. The separation of the satellite droplets into different collecting zones correlates with the cross channel position of the satellite droplets during the breakup of the liquid thread. The delay time for droplets to switch between the different alternating collecting zones is nominally 1 min and is proportional to the ratio of the oil shear flows. With our droplet generation system, monodispersed satellite droplets with an average radius of 2.23 +/- 0.11 microm, and bidispersed secondary and tertiary satellite droplets with radii of 1.55 +/- 0.07 microm and 372 +/- 46 nm respectively, have been dynamically separated and collected.     

Iron Oxide Photoelectrode with Multidimensional Architecture for Highly Efficient Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Nanostructured metal oxide semiconductors have shown outstanding performances in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, but limitations in light harvesting and charge collection have necessitated further advances in photoelectrode design. Herein, we propose anodized Fe foams (AFFs) with multidimensional nano/micro-architectures as a highly efficient photoelectrode for PEC water splitting. Fe foams fabricated by freeze-casting and sintering were electrochemically anodized and directly used as photoanodes. We verified the superiority of our design concept by achieving an unprecedented photocurrent density in PEC water splitting over 5 mA cm⁻² before the dark current onset, which originated from the large surface area and low electrical resistance of the AFFs. A photocurrent of over 6.8 mA cm⁻² and an accordingly high incident photon-to-current efficiency of over 50 % at 400 nm were achieved with incorporation of Co oxygen evolution catalysts. In addition, research opportunities for further advances by structual and compositional modifications are discussed, which can resolve the low fill factoring behavior and improve the overall performance.     

Dynamic behavior of water droplets on solid surfaces with pillar-type nanostructures

In the present study, we investigated the static and dynamic behavior of water droplets on solid surfaces featuring pillar-type nanostructures by using molecular dynamics simulations. We carried out the computation in two stages. As a result of the first computational stage, an initial water cube reached an equilibrium state at which the water droplet showed different shapes depending on the height and the lateral and gap dimensions of the pillars. In the second computational stage, we applied a constant body force to the static water droplet obtained from the first computational stage and evaluated the dynamic behavior of the water droplet as it slid along the pillar-type surface. The dynamic behavior of the water droplet, which could be classified into three different groups, depended on the static state of the water droplet, the pillar characteristics (e.g., height and the lateral and gap dimensions of the pillars), and the magnitude of the applied body force. We obtained the advancing and receding contact angles and the corresponding contact angle hysteresis of the water droplets, which helped classify the water droplets into the three different groups.     

Oil/Water Separation with Selective Superantiwetting/Superwetting Surface Materials

The separation of oil from oily water is an important pursuit because of increasing worldwide oil pollution. Separation by the use of materials with selective oil/water absorption is a relatively recent area of development, yet highly promising. Owing to their selective superantiwetting/superwetting properties towards water and oil, superhydrophobic/superoleophilic surfaces and underwater superoleophobic surfaces have been developed for the separation of oil/water‐free mixtures and emulsions. In this Review, after a short introduction to oil/water separation, we describe the principles of materials with selective oil/water absorption and outline recent advances in oil/water separation with superwetting/superantiwetting materials, including their design, their fabrication, and models of experimental setups. Finally, we discuss the current state of this new field and point out the remaining problems and future challenges.     

Fusion‐Induced Structural and Functional Evolution in Binary Emulsion Communities

The biomimetic dynamic behaviours of emulsions are receiving increasing attention from the broad scientific community; however, the spatiotemporal control and functionalization of emulsions based on simple fusion‐induced method is rarely mentioned. A design for protein‐stabilized oil‐in‐water droplets and phospholipid‐stabilized oil‐in‐water droplets is described and a substance‐diffusion‐mediated fusion mechanism proposed within these two different emulsion communities. Significantly, a range of fusion‐induced high‐order behaviours were successfully demonstrated including competitive fusion, fusion‐induced evolution in membrane complexity, and diversified structures with the formation of Janus or various patchy morphologies, fusion‐induced membrane maturation, as well as fusion‐induced multifunctionalization with a directional motility behaviour. These results highlight the fusion‐induced diverse dynamic behaviours in complex emulsions communities and provide a platform for advancing versatile applications of emulsions.