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Nano Research 2023, 16(2): 2551-2562 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4986-y
Research Article | Issue | Published: 07 October 2022

Detachable and hierarchical assemblies for recyclable and highly efficient oil-fouling removal

Show Author's Information Tengda Wang1,2,  Shaoying Dai1,2,  Jie Wang1,2,  Bin Liu1,2,  Meiwen Cao3,  Bo Guan1,  Yuchun Han1( ),  Yilin Wang1,2( )
CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Department of Biological and Energy Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Keywords:
dynamic covalent bond, hierarchical assembly, emulsion, oil-fouling removal, oil/water separation
Topics:
Self assembly
Cite this article:
Wang T, Dai S, Wang J, et al. Detachable and hierarchical assemblies for recyclable and highly efficient oil-fouling removal. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 2551-2562. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4986-y
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Large-scale use of detergents to remove oil-fouling in industry continuously generates tremendous amounts of wastewater and thus leads to both economic and environmental problems. To develop recyclable oil-fouling removal strategy is an appealing solution but a challenging task. Herein, a kind of dynamic imine-based surfactant has been constructed by 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt (FBSS) and linear amines (CnNH2, n = 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12). Owing to high interfacial activity and strong assembly ability, dynamic FBSS/C8NH2 system can remove oil-fouling on multiple substrates for at least 10 cycles, largely reducing the toxicity to ecosystem. At basic pH, the hierarchical assemblies (from vesicle to network and hollow sphere) are formed and boost surfactant molecule enrichment around oil-fouling, leading to highly efficient emulsification. When pH is changed to acidic condition, the surfactant molecules dissociate due to the breaking of imine bonds, and accordingly the emulsion is destroyed and the released oil droplets float to the top layer. After removing the oil-fouling and adjusting the solution back to basic pH, the surfactant assemblies are reconstructed and used for the next oil-fouling cleaning cycle. This study provides a recyclable, efficient and eco-friendly oil-fouling removal approach, satisfying the need of sustainable development.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Detachable and hierarchical assemblies for recyclable and highly efficient oil-fouling removal

Show Author's information Tengda Wang1,2, Shaoying Dai1,2, Jie Wang1,2, Bin Liu1,2, Meiwen Cao3, Bo Guan1, Yuchun Han1( ), Yilin Wang1,2( )
CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Chemical Thermodynamics, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, Department of Biological and Energy Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Abstract

Large-scale use of detergents to remove oil-fouling in industry continuously generates tremendous amounts of wastewater and thus leads to both economic and environmental problems. To develop recyclable oil-fouling removal strategy is an appealing solution but a challenging task. Herein, a kind of dynamic imine-based surfactant has been constructed by 2-formylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt (FBSS) and linear amines (CnNH2, n = 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12). Owing to high interfacial activity and strong assembly ability, dynamic FBSS/C8NH2 system can remove oil-fouling on multiple substrates for at least 10 cycles, largely reducing the toxicity to ecosystem. At basic pH, the hierarchical assemblies (from vesicle to network and hollow sphere) are formed and boost surfactant molecule enrichment around oil-fouling, leading to highly efficient emulsification. When pH is changed to acidic condition, the surfactant molecules dissociate due to the breaking of imine bonds, and accordingly the emulsion is destroyed and the released oil droplets float to the top layer. After removing the oil-fouling and adjusting the solution back to basic pH, the surfactant assemblies are reconstructed and used for the next oil-fouling cleaning cycle. This study provides a recyclable, efficient and eco-friendly oil-fouling removal approach, satisfying the need of sustainable development.

Keywords: dynamic covalent bond, hierarchical assembly, emulsion, oil-fouling removal, oil/water separation

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 28 June 2022
Revised: 09 August 2022
Accepted: 29 August 2022
Published: 07 October 2022
Issue date: February 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21988102, 22072161, and 21773261) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (No. 2021YFA0716700). We are thankful to Lirong Liang, Wenbo Chang and Kaiang Liu at the Center for Analysis and Testing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS), for their support in Cryo-TEM and Cryo-SEM experiments.

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