title: Fabrication of Long-Term Underwater Superoleophobic Al Surfaces and Application on Underwater Lossless Manipulation of Non-Polar Organic Liquids.
abstract: Underwater superoleophobic surfaces have different applications in fields from oil/water separation to underwater lossless manipulation. This kind of surfaces can be easily transformed from superhydrophilic surfaces in air, which means the stability of superhydrophilicity in air determines the stability of underwater superoleophobicity. However, superhydrophilic surfaces fabricated by some existing methods easily become hydrophobic or superhydrophobic in air with time. Here, a facile method combined with electrochemical etching and boiling water immersion is developed to fabricate long-term underwater superoleophobic surfaces. The surface morphologies and chemical compositions are investigated. The results show that the electrochemically etched and boiling-water immersed Al surfaces have excellent long-term superhydrophilicity in air for over 1 year and boehmite plays an important role in maintaining long-term stability of wettability. Based on the fabricated underwater superoleophobic surfaces, a special method and device were developed to realize the underwater lossless manipulation of immiscible organic liquid droplets with a large volume. The capture and release of liquid droplets were realized by controlling the resultant force of the applied driving pressure, gravity and buoyancy. The research has potential application in research-fields such as the transfer of valuable reagents, accurate control of miniature chemical reactions, droplet-based reactors, and eliminates contamination of manipulator components.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-Traditional Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
authors.forename: Zhuji
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Ivan P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Parkin