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.     

Preparation characteristics of water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsions using microchannel emulsification

Microchannel (MC) emulsification is a novel technique for preparing monodispersed emulsions. This study demonstrates preparing water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions using MC emulsification. The W/O/W emulsions were prepared by a two-step emulsification process employing MC emulsification as the second step. We investigated the behavior of internal water droplets penetrating the MCs. Using decane, ethyl oleate, and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) as oil phases, we observed successful MC emulsification and prepared monodispersed oil droplets that contained small water droplets. MC emulsification was possible using triolein as the oil phase, but polydispersed oil droplets were formed from some of the channels. No leakage of the internal water phase was observed during the MC emulsification process. The internal water droplets penetrated the MC without disruption, even though the internal water droplets were larger than the resulting W/O/W emulsion droplets. The W/O/W emulsion entrapment yield was measured fluorometrically and found to be 91%. The mild action of droplet formation based on spontaneous transformation led to a high entrapment yield during MC emulsification.     

Controlled Directional Water‐Droplet Spreading on a High‐Adhesion Surface

Controlled directional spreading of a droplet on a smart high‐adhesion surface was made possible by simply controlling anodic oxidation. The wettability gradient of the surface was controlled from 0.14 to 3.38° mm^?1 by adjusting the anodic oxidation conditions. When a water droplet made contact with the substrate, the droplet immediately spread in the direction of the wettability gradient but did not move in other directions, such as those perpendicular to the gradient direction, even when the surface was turned upside down. The spreading behavior was mainly controlled by the wettability gradient. Surfaces with a V‐ or inverse‐V‐shaped wettability gradient were also formed by the same method, and two droplets on these surfaces spread either toward or away from one another as designed. This method could be used to oxidize many conductive substrates (e.g., copper, aluminum) to form surfaces with variously shaped wettability gradients. It has potential for application in microfluidic devices.     

Mimicking natural superhydrophobic surfaces and grasping the wetting process: a review on recent progress in preparing superhydrophobic surfaces

A typical superhydrophobic (ultrahydrophobic) surface can repel water droplets from wetting itself, and the contact angle of a water droplet resting on a superhydrophobic surface is greater than 150°, which means extremely low wettability is achievable on superhydrophobic surfaces. Many superhydrophobic surfaces (both manmade and natural) normally exhibit micro- or nanosized roughness as well as hierarchical structure, which somehow can influence the surface's water repellence. As the research into superhydrophobic surfaces goes deeper and wider, it is becoming more important to both academic fields and industrial applications. In this work, the most recent progress in preparing manmade superhydrophobic surfaces through a variety of methodologies, particularly within the past several years, and the fundamental theories of wetting phenomena related to superhydrophobic surfaces are reviewed. We also discuss the perspective of natural superhydrophobic surfaces utilized as mimicking models. The discussion focuses on how the superhydrophobic property is promoted on solid surfaces and emphasizes the effect of surface roughness and structure in particular. This review aims to enable researchers to perceive the inner principles of wetting phenomena and employ suitable methods for creation and modification of superhydrophobic surfaces.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation for the Demulsification of O/W Emulsion under Pulsed Electric Field

A bidirectional pulsed electric field (BPEF) method is considered a simple and novel technique to demulsify O/W emulsions. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the transformation and aggregation behavior of oil droplets in O/W emulsion under BPEF. Then, the effect of surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) on the demulsification of O/W emulsion was investigated. The simulation results showed that the oil droplets transformed and moved along the direction of the electric field. SDS molecules can shorten the aggregation time of oil droplets in O/W emulsion. The electrostatic potential distribution on the surface of the oil droplet, the elongation length of the oil droplets, and the mean square displacement (MSD) of SDS and asphaltene molecules under an electric field were calculated to explain the aggregation of oil droplets under the simulated pulsed electric field. The simulation also showed that the two oil droplets with opposite charges have no obvious effect on the aggregation of the oil droplets. However, van der Waals interactions between oil droplets was the main factor in the aggregation.     

Effect of oil phase transition on freeze/thaw-induced demulsification of water-in-oil emulsions

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the breakage of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions by the freeze/thaw method. Most of the previous works focused on the phase transition of the water droplet phase. This paper emphasizes the effect of continuous oil phase transition. A series of oils with different freezing points were used as oil phases to produce model emulsions, which were then frozen and thawed. The emulsion whose oil phase froze before the water droplet phase did (OFBW) on cooling was readily demulsified with a dewatering ratio as high as over 80%, but the emulsion whose oil phase did not freeze when the water droplet phase did (NOFBW) was relatively hard to break. The difference in demulsification performance between them resulted from the distinction between their demulsification mechanisms via the analyses of the emulsion stability, emulsion crystallization/melting behaviors, oil phase physical properties, and wettability of the frozen oil phase, etc. For the OFBW emulsion, the first-frozen oil phase was ruptured by the volume expansion of the subsequently frozen droplet phase, and meanwhile, some liquid droplet phase was drawn into the fine gaps/crevices of the frozen oil phase to bridge droplets, which were considered to be essential to the emulsion breakage, whereas for the NOFBW emulsion, the demulsification was attributed to the collision mechanism proposed in our previous work. The findings may provide some criteria for selecting a proper oil phase in the emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) process and then offer an alternative approach to recycle the oil phase for continuous operation. This work may also be useful for emulsion stability against temperature cycling.     

A review of: “Nineteenth Century Attitudes: Men of Science (Chemists and Chemistry Series,Vol. 13)”. Sydney Ross. Kluwer Academic Publishers; Dordrecht, 1991. pp. xi+235. $69.00.

Abstract

The potential of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes as water‐in‐oil (W/O) emulsification devices was investigated to obtain uniformly sized droplets and to convert them into microcapsules and polymer particles via subsequent treatments. Uniform W/O emulsion droplets have not been achieved using glass membranes unless the membrane was rendered hydrophobic by treatment with silanes. If a PTFE membrane is capable of providing uniform droplets for a W/O emulsion, a coordinated membrane emulsification system can be established since glass membranes have been so successful for O/W (oil‐in‐water) emulsification. In order to examine the feasibility of PTFE membrane emulsification, O/W and W/O emulsion characteristics prepared using PTFE membranes were compared with those prepared by the conventional SPG (Shirasu porous glass) membrane emulsification method. A 3 wt.% sodium chloride solution was dispersed in kerosene using a low HLB surfactant. Effects of the membrane pore size, permeation pressure, and the type of emulsifiers and concentration on the droplet size and on the size distribution (CV, coefficient of variation) were investigated. The CV of the droplets was fairly low, and the average droplet size was correlated with the critical permeation pressure of the dispersed phase, revealing that the PTFE membrane could be used as a one‐pass membrane emulsification device. Low CV values were maintained with a Span 85 (HLB = 1.8) concentration, 0.2–5.0 wt.% and a range of HLB from 1.8–5.0. For a brief demonstration of practical applications, nylon‐6,10 microcapsules prepared by interfacial polycondensation and poly(acrylamide) hydrogels from inverse suspension polymerization are illustrated.     

Controlled production of monodisperse double emulsions by two-step droplet breakup in microfluidic devices

A microfluidic device having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components is exploited for production of multiple-phase emulsions. For producing water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) dispersions, aqueous droplets ruptured at the upstream hydrophobic junction are enclosed within organic droplets formed at the downstream hydrophilic junction. Droplets produced at each junction could have narrow size distributions with coefficients of variation in diameter of less than 3%. Control of the flow conditions produces variations in internal/external droplet sizes and in the internal droplet number. Both W/O/W emulsions (with two types of internal droplets) and oil-in-water-in-oil emulsions were prepared by varying geometry and wettability in microchannels.     

Mixed O/W emulsions stabilized by solid particles: A model system for controlled mass transfer triggered by surfactant addition

This article deals with a model mixed oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion system developed to study the effect of surfactants on mass transfer between dispersed oil droplets of different composition. In this purpose, our goal was to formulate O/W emulsions without any surface active agents as stabilizer, which was achieved by replacing surfactants by a mixture of hydrophilic/hydrophobic silica particles. Then, to study the specific role of surfactants in the oil transfer process, different types and concentrations of surfactants were added to the mixed emulsion after its preparation. In such a way, the same original emulsion can be used for all experiments and the influence of various surface active molecules on the oil transfer mechanism can be directly studied. The model mixed emulsion used consists of a mixture of hexadecane-in-water and tetradecane-in-water emulsions. The transfer between tetradecane and hexadecane droplets was monitored by using differential scanning calorimetry, which allows the detection of freezing and melting signals characteristic of the composition of the dispersed oil droplets. The results obtained showed that it is possible to trigger the transfer of tetradecane towards hexadecane droplets by adding surfactants at concentrations above their critical micellar concentration, measured in presence of solid particles, through micellar transport mechanism.     

Demulsification of water-in-oil emulsions by permeation through Shirasu-porous-glass (SPG) membranes

To investigate the effect of the droplet/pore size ratio on membrane demulsification, water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions with uniform-sized droplets was demulsified by permeation through Shirasu-porous-glass (SPG) membranes with a narrow pore size distribution at mean droplet/pore diameter ratios of 0.52–5.75. At transmembrane pressures above a critical pressure, the water droplets larger than the membrane pore size were demulsified, where the SPG membrane acted as a coalescer because the hydrophilic membrane surface had a high affinity for the water droplets. By contrast, at transmembrane pressures below the critical pressure, the larger water droplets were all retained by the membrane due to the sieving effect of the uniform-sized pores. When a W/O emulsion with a mean droplet diameter of 2.30 μm was allowed to permeate through a membrane with a mean pore diameter of 0.86 μm, the demulsification efficiency increased with increasing transmembrane pressure, to a maximum value of 91% at a transmembrane pressure of 392 kPa, and then decreased, while the transmembrane flux increased almost linearly with increasing transmembrane pressure. The demulsification efficiency was higher for higher water phase content and lower concentration of the surfactant, tetraglycerin condensed ricinoleic acid ester, in the emulsions due to the reduction of the emulsion stability.     

Emulsion Filtration Through Surface Modified Ceramic Membranes

In this work we studied the influence of membrane hydrophobicity on the filtration of oil/water (O/W) emulsions with a dispersed phase content of 30% (V/V). The membrane filtration process was realized by using ceramic tubular hydrophilic or hydrophobic membranes with different mean pore size (0.2 pm, 1.2 pm, and 1.4 pm of mean pore radius). Hydrophobic character was obtained by modifying superficially the membrane surface with a very thin polymer layer. The results obtained showed that the emulsion viscosity and droplet size distribution depend on the shearing forces and transmembrane pressure. The operating conditions and the nature of the membrane surface/emulsion interaction are the main parameters which control the type and nature of emulsion changes, such as modification of the mean droplet size, concentration into oleic phase or breaking.     

Biomimetic superhydrophobic and highly oleophobic cotton textiles

We report a biomimetic procedure to prepare superhydrophobic cotton textiles. By in situ introducing silica particles to cotton fibers to generate a dual-size surface roughness, followed by hydrophobization with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), normally hydrophilic cotton has been easily turned superhydrophobic, which exhibits a static water contact angle of 155 degrees for a 10 microL droplet. The roll-off angle of water droplets depends on the droplet volume, ranging from 7 degrees for a droplet of 50 microL to 20 degrees for a 7 microL droplet. When a perfluoroalkyl chain is introduced to the silica particle surface, the superhydrophobic textile also becomes highly oleophobic, as demonstrated by a static contact angle of 140 degrees and a roll-off angle of 24 degrees for a 15 microL sunflower oil droplet.     

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...     

Shape-gradient composite surfaces: water droplets move uphill

The approach of water droplets self-running horizontally and uphill without any other forces was proposed by patterning the shape-gradient hydrophilic material (i.e., mica) to the hydrophobic matrix (i.e., wax or low-density polyethylene (LDPE)). The shape-gradient composite surface is the best one to drive water droplet self-running both at the high velocity and the maximal distance among four different geometrical mica/wax composite surfaces. The driving force for the water droplets self-running includes: (1) the great difference in wettability of surface materials, (2) the low contact angle hysteresis of surface materials, and (3) the space limitation of the shape-gradient transportation area. Furthermore, the average velocity and the maximal distance of the self-running were mainly determined by the gradient angle (alpha), the droplet volume, and the difference of the contact angle hysteresis. Theoretical analysis is in agreement with the experimental results.     

含氟硅丙烯酸酯乳液超疏水膜中疏水基团的梯度分布与表面微观结构研究

利用含氟疏水基团的梯度分布,结合草莓形纳米SiO2粒子提供的双重粗糙表面,制备了具有类"荷叶效应"的超疏水涂膜,水接触角达(174.2±2)°,滞后角几乎接近0°.通过原子力显微镜、扫描电镜和水接触角的测试对膜表面形貌及疏水性能进行了表征;探讨了其表面微观结构与表面疏水性能的关系.草莓形复合粒子在膜表面的无规则排列赋予涂膜表面不同等级的粗糙度,使水滴与涂膜表面接触时能够形成高的空气捕捉率,这种微观结构与疏水基团的梯度分布相结合,赋予了含氟硅丙烯酸酯乳液涂膜表面超疏水性能.     

Adsorption and structural change of beta-lactoglobulin at the diacylglycerol-water interface

Diacylglycerol (DAG)/water and triacylglycerol (TAG)/water emulsions were prepared using beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) as an emulsifier. The oil phase (20% in emulsion) was mixed with beta-LG solution (1% beta-LG in water, pH 7) to prepare the emulsions. A fine oil-in-water emulsion was produced from both DAG and TAG oils. The interfacial protein concentration of the TAG emulsion was higher than that of the DAG emulsion. The zeta potential of the DAG oil droplet was higher than that of the TAG oil droplet. The front-surface fluorescence spectroscopy results revealed that tryptophan residues in beta-LG moved to the more hydrophobic environment during the adsorption of protein on the oil droplet surfaces. Changes in secondary structure of beta-LG during the adsorption were determined by FT-IR spectroscopy. Decreases in the beta-sheet content concomitant with increases in the alpha-helix content were observed during the adsorption to the oil droplets, and the degree of structural change was greater for beta-LG in the TAG emulsion than in the DAG emulsion, indicating the increased unfolding of adsorbed beta-LG on the TAG oil droplet surface. Results of interfacial tension measurement supported this speculation, that is, the increased unfolding of the protein at the TAG-water interface. Trypsin- and proteinase K-catalyzed proteolysis was used to probe the topography of the adsorbed beta-LG on the oil droplet surface. SDS-PAGE analyses of liberated peptides after the proteolysis indicated the higher susceptibility of beta-LG adsorbed on the DAG oil droplet surface than on the TAG oil droplet surface. On the basis of all the results, we discussed the conformation of the adsorbed beta-LG on the two oil droplet surfaces.     

Evaporative properties and pinning strength of laser-ablated, hydrophilic sites on lotus-leaf-like, nanostructured surfaces

Wetting, evaporative, and pinning strength properties of hydrophilic sites on superhydrophobic, nanostructured surfaces were examined. Understanding these properties is important for surface characterization and designing features in self-cleaning, lotus-leaf-like surfaces. Laser-ablated, hydrophilic spots between 250 mum and 2 mm in diameter were prepared on silicon nanowire (NW) superhydrophobic surfaces. For larger circumference pinning sites, initial contact angle measurements resemble the contact angle of the surface within the pinning site: 65-69 degrees . As the drop volume is increased, the contact angles approach the contact angle of the NW surface without pinning sites: 171-176 degrees . The behavior of water droplets on the pinning sites is governed by how much of the water droplet is being influenced by the superhydrophobic NW surfaces versus the hydrophilic areas. During the evaporation of sinapic acid solution, drops are pinned by the spots except for the smaller circumference sites. Pinning strengths of the hydrophilic sites are a linear function of the pinning spot circumference. Protein samples prepared and deposited on the pinning sites for analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization indicate an improvement in sensitivity from that of a standard plate analysis by a factor of 5.     

Production and characterization of oil-in-water emulsions containing droplets stabilized by multilayer membranes consisting of beta-lactoglobulin, iota-carrageenan and gelatin

The influence of environmental conditions (pH, NaCl, CaCl2, and temperature) on the properties and stability of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing oil droplets surrounded by one-, two-, or three-layer interfacial membranes has been investigated. Three oil-in-water emulsions were prepared with the same droplet concentration and buffer (5 wt % corn oil, 5 mM phosphate buffer, pH 6) but with different biopolymers: (i) primary emulsion: 0.5 wt % beta-Lg; (ii) secondary emulsion: 0.5 wt % beta-Lg, 0.1 wt % iota-carrageenan; (iii) tertiary emulsion: 0.5 wt % beta-Lg, 0.1 wt % iota-carrageenan, 0-2 wt % gelatin. The secondary and tertiary emulsions were prepared by electrostatic deposition of the charged biopolymers onto the surfaces of the oil droplets so as to form two- and three-layer interfacial membranes, respectively. The stability of the emulsions to pH (3-8), sodium chloride (0-500 mM), calcium chloride (0-12 mM), and thermal processing (30-90 degrees C) was determined. We found that multilayer emulsions had better stability to droplet aggregation than single-layer emulsions under certain environmental conditions and that one or more of the biopolymer layers could be made to desorb from the droplet surfaces in response to specific environmental changes (e.g., high salt or high temperature). These results suggest that the interfacial engineering technology used in this study could lead to the creation of food emulsions with improved stability to environmental stresses or to emulsions with triggered release characteristics.     

A Three-Step Model for Submicron W/O Emulsion Formation in a Transitional-Phase Inversion Process

A three-step model of the transitional phase inversion (TPI) process for the formation of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions is presented. Three types of emulsions exist in an emulsification process at different oil–water ratios and hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB). A stable W/O emulsion was obtained using Sorbitan oleate (Span 80) and polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) with a specified HLB and oil volume fraction. Oil was added into water, which contained the water-soluble surfactant, to dissolve the oil-soluble surfactant. This route allowed TPI to occur, and an interesting emulsification process was observed by varying the HLB, which corresponded to the change in the oil–water ratio. Two types of emulsions in the emulsification process were found: transition emulsion 1 (W/O/W high internal phase emulsion) and target emulsion 2 (W/O emulsion with low viscosity). This study describes the changes that occurred in the emulsification process.     

Mechanism of oil-in-water emulsification using a water-soluble amphiphilic polymer and lipophilic surfactant

A new O/W (oil-in-water) emulsification system was developed using the amphiphilic polymer HHM-HEC (hydrophobically-hydrophilically modified hydroxyethylcellulose) and a lipophilic surfactant. HHM-HEC was used as a thickener and polymeric surfactant, and the addition of small quantities of various types of nonionic lipophilic surfactant (hydrophilic-lipophilic balance <5) decreased the droplet size of several types of oil due to a lowering of the tension at the water/oil interface. The oil droplets were held by the strong network structure of the aqueous HHM-HEC solution, preserving the O/W phase without inversion. These stable O/W emulsions were prepared without the addition of hydrophilic surfactants and thus show improved water repellency.