title: Regulating Underwater Superoleophobicity to Superoleophilicity on Hierarchical Structured Copper Substrates through Assembling n-Alkanoic Acids.
abstract: In this paper, we report a simple method based on assembling n-alkanoic acids on hierarchical structured copper toward preparing surfaces with tunable oil wetting performance in water. Surface wettability from superoleophobicity to superoleophilicity in water can be regulated through tuning the chain length of n-alkanoic acids. Importantly, even in strongly acid and basic water, such phenomena can still be observed. The cooperation between the hierarchical structures and the surface chemical composition variation is responsible for the controllability. Meanwhile, the tunable ability is universal and the controllability is suitable for various oils including silicon oil, n-hexane, and chloroform. Moreover, the method was also used on copper mesh substrates, and we reported the related application of selective oil/water separation. This paper provides a flexible strategy toward preparing surfaces with tunable oil wetting performances, which can also be suitable for other materials, and offers some fresh ideas in manipulating underwater oil wetting performances on surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Defeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Guangyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhongjun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5550-2989
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy and ‡College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University , Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.|School of Chemical Engineering and Technology and ∥Natural Science Research Center, Academy of Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu