More Like this

1. Robust, sustainable and multifunctional nanofibers with smart switchability for water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsion separation and liquid marble preparation

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ta10320a  

   Arshadi, Mohammad; Azizi, Morteza; Souzandeh, Hamid; Tan, Chen; Davachi, Seyed Mohammad; Abbaspourrad, Alireza (November 2019, Journal of Materials Chemistry A)

   Various membranes have been developed for the separation of oil/water mixtures; however, their fabrication requires toxic reagents, multiple processing steps, and advanced technologies. Nature not only precisely generates unique materials but also provides tremendous examples in the environment that can be used as inspiration for the development and creation of smart and green materials. In this study, we prepare multifunctional nanobiofibers (NBFs) from grape seeds by a one-pot reaction using green solvents that, when made into a smart layer, can switch between a state of underwater superoleophobic wetting to a state of underoil superhydrophobicity and back without any external stimuli. The several μm length and 50 nm width NBFs exhibit robust stability and provide a porous NBF layer, suggesting their potential for the simultaneous separation of various surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions while showing high dye adsorption from water (100% for methylene blue). Furthermore, by rolling water droplets on the surface of NBF powder, an effective microreactor, known as a liquid marble, is prepared for the first time using a bio-originated, superamphiphilic material in air, rather than hydrophilic or hydrophobic materials, and it can be used to remove dye within 30 s. Moreover, based on the ability of NBFs to encapsulate a high volume of water (120 μL), we demonstrate another application of the NBF powder as an additive to soil for maintaining soil moisture under arid conditions, allowing us to successfully demonstrate the growth of a lentil seed. This multi-functional, low-cost, and green NBF material shows excellent sustainability and mechanical/chemical stability for multiple promising environmental remediation applications. 

   more » « less
2. A moral economy of oil: corruption narratives and oil elites in Ecuador

   https://doi.org/10.1080/14735784.2018.1507752  

   Lyall, Angus (September 2018, Culture, Theory and Critique)
3. Microparticle Inclusion in a Water Ladle Model with Foamy Oil

   Faizaan, Basheeruddin_Syed; Liu, Yun; Guo, Xipeng; Zhou, Chenn (May 2025, Proceedings of the Iron & Steel Technology Conference)
4. Investigating water/oil interfaces with opto-thermophoresis

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31546-3  

   Kim, Youngsun; Ding, Hongru; Zheng, Yuebing (June 2022, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Charging of interfaces between water and hydrophobic media is a mysterious feature whose nature and origin have been under debate. Here, we investigate the fundamentals of the interfacial behaviors of water by employing opto-thermophoretic tweezers to study temperature-gradient-induced perturbation of dipole arrangement at water/oil interfaces. With surfactant-free perfluoropentane-in-water emulsions as a model interface, additional polar organic solvents are introduced to systematically modify the structural aspects of the interface. Through our experimental measurements on the thermophoretic behaviors of oil droplets under a light-generated temperature gradient, in combination with theoretical analysis, we propose that water molecules and mobile negative charges are present at the water/oil interfaces with specific dipole arrangement to hydrate oil droplets, and that this arrangement is highly susceptible to the thermal perturbation due to the mobility of the negative charges. These findings suggest a potential of opto-thermophoresis in probing aqueous interfaces and could enrich understanding of the interfacial behaviors of water. 

   more » « less
5. Surfactant-free oil-in-oil emulsion-templating of polyimide aerogel foams

   https://doi.org/10.1515/ipp-2022-4248  

   Farrell, Erin; Jana, Sadhan C. (August 2022, International Polymer Processing)

   Abstract A surfactant-free oil-in-oil emulsion-templating method is presented for fabrication of monolithic polyimide aerogel foams using monomer systems that produce fast sol–gel transition. An aerogel foam is a high porosity (∼90%) material with coexisting meso- and macropores inherent to aerogels with externally introduced micrometer size open cells (macrovoids) that are reminiscent of foams. The macrovoids are introduced in polyimide sol using surfactant-free emulsion-templating of droplets of an immiscible liquid that are stabilized against coalescence by fast sol–gel transition. Three immiscible liquids – cyclohexane, n -heptane, and silicone oil – are considered in this work for surfactant-free emulsion-templating. The aerogel foam monoliths, recovered by supercritical drying, exhibit smaller size macrovoids when n -heptane and cyclohexane are used as emulsion-templating liquid, while the overall porosity and the bulk density show weak dependence on the emulsion-templating liquid. 

   more » « less