Yongchun Liu^1,*, Ni Qiao², Yanli Yang³, Yanchun Li¹, Chunxiao He¹, Siyang Wang¹, Chengcheng Liu¹, Ruixia Lei¹, Wang Li⁴, Wenwen Gao⁴

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.20, No.2, pp. 383-400, 2024, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2023.041928

Abstract A silylated melamine sponge (SMS) was prepared by two simple steps, namely, immersion and dehydration of a melamine sponge coated with methyltrichlorosilane. The silylated structure of SMS was characterized by FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared) spectroscopy, SEM (Scanning electron microscopy) and in terms of water contact angles. Its oil-water absorption and separation capacities were measured by FT-IR and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The experimental results have shown that oligomeric silanol covalently bonds by Si−N onto the surface of melamine sponge skeletons. SMS has shown superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle exceeding 150° ± 1°, a better separation efficiency with regard to diesel oil (by 99.31% (wt/wt%)… More >

Yue Hu¹, Lu-Wen Zhang^1,*

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.26, No.1, pp. 1-1, 2023, DOI:10.32604/icces.2023.010595

Abstract Liquid accretion control plays a key role across a wide range of industrial applications, such as anti-icing, power generation, sewage treatment, water desalination, and energy harvesting. In condensation system, durable dropwise condensation of saturated vapor for heat transfer and energy saving in extensive industrial applications. While numerous superhydrophobic surfaces can promote steam condensation, maintaining discrete microdroplets on surfaces without the formation of a flooded filmwise condensation at high subcooling remains challenging. Here, we report the development of carbon nanotube arrayembedded hierarchical composite surfaces that enable ultra-durable dropwise condensation under a wide range of subcooling temperatures (∆T_sub = 8 K–38 K),… More >

Yunyun Song¹, Xu Zhang¹, Jialei Yang¹, Zhongqiang Zhang^1,*, Guanggui Cheng¹

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.25, No.2, pp. 1-1, 2023, DOI:10.32604/icces.2023.09916

Abstract Although floating oil with large particle sizes can easily be separated from water by membrane separation methods, tiny oil droplets with tremendously small volume force and density gradient at oil-water interfaces within water lead to barriers of oil-water separation. Consequently, tiny oil droplets remain in the water, resulting in energy waste, environmental pollution and biological health hazard. Traditional super-wetting membranes with extremely small pore sizes were easily blocked during the oil-water separation process. Inspired by the cactus and rice leaf, we developed a superhydrophobic-superoleophilic surface with conical micro-arrays to realize ultrafast adsorption of tiny oil droplets within the water. The… More >

Jiaxing Sun¹, Lili Ji^1,*, Qianrui He¹, Ran Li¹, Xiaoyue Xia², Yaning Wang¹, Yi Yang², Lu Cai³, Jian Guo²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.8, pp. 3227-3243, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.027160

Abstract

In this study, a novel absorpent (MSAR600°C) with a hydrophobic surface and hierarchical porous structure for the removal of kitchen oil was facilely fabricated from the macroalgae, laver (Porphyra haitanensis) by incorporating high-temperature carbonization and alkyl polyglucosides (APG) and rhamnolipid (RL) surfactants modification. The characterization results showed MSAR600°C possessed a louts-leaf-like papillae microstructure with high contact angle (137.5°), abundant porous structure with high specific surface area (23.4 m²/g), and various oxygen-containing functional groups (-OH, C=O, C-O). Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of adsorption time, temperature, pH, and absorbent dose on kitchen oil adsorption performance. Then the… More > Graphic Abstract

Yongde Luo, Jiang Jin^*, Hua Zhang^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.7, pp. 3143-3153, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.027396

Abstract A hybrid system combined with a non-contact membrane and bubbling absorption is proposed to capture CO₂ from flue gas. The non-contact way of membrane and liquid absorbent effectively avoids the reduction of gas diffusion flux through the membrane. High-porosity ceramic membranes in hybrid systems are used for gas-solid separation in fuel gas treatment. Due to the high content of H₂O and cement dust in the flue gas of the cement plant, the membrane is hydrophobically modified by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to improve its anti-water, anti-fouling, and self-cleaning performances. The results show that the diffusion flux of CO₂ through the membrane is… More >

Zijie Chen^a , Sanat Modak^a, Massoud Kaviany^a,* , Richard Bonner^b

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol.14, pp. 1-11, 2020, DOI:10.5098/hmt.14.1

Abstract In dropwise condensation on vertical surface, droplets grow at nucleation sites, coalesce and reach the departing diameter. In biphilic surfaces, when the hydrophobic domain is small, the maximum droplet diameter is controlled by the shortest dimension where the droplets merge at the boundary. Through direct numerical simulations this size-effect heat transfer coefficient enhancement is calculated. Then the 1-D biphilic surface is optimized considering the size-dependent hydrophilic domain partial flooding (directly simulated as a liquid rivulet and using the capillary limit), the subcooling (heat flux) and condenser length effects. The predicted performance is in good agreement with the available experiments. More >

Xuyang Yao^1,*, Kecheng Liu¹, Zenan Zhou¹, Jun Zhou¹, Xianbin Huang², Tiemei Lu¹, Yongsheng Yu¹, He Li²

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.19, No.7, pp. 1775-1787, 2023, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2023.025843

Abstract Water-based drilling fluids can cause hydration of the wellbore rocks, thereby leading to instability. This study aimed to synthesize a hydrophobic small-molecule polymer (HLMP) as an inhibitor to suppress mud shale hydration. An infrared spectral method and a thermogravimetric technique were used to characterize the chemical composition of the HLMP and evaluate its heat stability. Experiments were conducted to measure the linear swelling, rolling recovery rate, and bentonite inhibition rate and evaluate accordingly the inhibition performance of the HLMP. Moreover, the HLMP was characterized through measurements of the zeta potential, particle size distribution, contact angles, and interlayer space testing. As… More > Graphic Abstract

Mohammed Albuaymi¹, Suleiman Abdulrahman^2,3, Fayez Alanazi⁴, Hani Alanazi^1,*, Musa Adamu^5,6

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.5, pp. 2433-2451, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.026751

Abstract Pure bitumen is not suitable for heavy traffic loads; hence modifiers are used to improve the bitumen performance. Recently, cup lump rubber (CLR) has become a preferred modifier due to its outstanding performance and less cost. However, little is known about the interactions between CLR and bitumen. Thus, this study investigates the behavior of bitumen with CLR. Four percentages of CLR (2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, and 10.0% by weight of bitumen) were used to modify conventional 60/70 penetration grade bitumen. The modified bitumen was evaluated through different laboratory testing such as dynamic shear rheometer, rotational viscosity, softening point, bending beam rheometer,… More >

Alvaro Iregui¹, Lourdes Irusta^1,*, Loli Martin², Alba González¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 44-48, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634128

Abstract In this work, solution electrospinning technique was used to produce biodegradable fi bers using a commercially available polyester (Ecofl ex F Blend C1200). These materials (mats) could be of potential interest in tissue engineering. The effect of polymer concentration and the solvent nature on the obtained morphology was related to the wettability of the mat, characterized by water contact angle measurements. According to the results, the electrospun mats presented water contact angles characteristic of hydrophobic surfaces. More >

Felipe Mercês Biglia¹, Raquel da Cunha Ribeiro da Silva², Fátima de Moraes Lino³, Kamal Abdel Radi Ismail³, Thiago Antonini Alves^4,*

Energy Engineering, Vol.119, No.5, pp. 1771-1788, 2022, DOI:10.32604/ee.2022.019625

Abstract The frost growth on cold surfaces in evaporators is an undesirable phenomenon which becomes a problem for the thermal efficiency of the refrigeration systems because the ice layer acts as a thermal insulation, drastically reducing the rate of heat transfer in the system. Its accumulation implies an increase in energy demand and a decrease in the performance of various components involved in the refrigeration process, reducing its efficiency and making it necessary to periodically remove the frost, resulting in expenses for the defrost process. In the present work, a numerical-experimental analysis was performed in order to understand the formation process… More >