A smart engineering material with UV‐induced switchable wettability for controllable oil/water separation

Abstract

AbstractBACKGROUNDRecently, some smart superwetting materials with switchable wettability have attracted great interest due to their ability to controllably separate oil/water mixtures. However, the fabrication of most smart materials requires complex procedures and precious chemical reagents for surface modification, limiting large‐scale engineering applications of the fabricated smart surface.RESULTSIn this study, a silver surface was prepared by extremely simple displacement deposition on copper mesh. The silver‐coated mesh exhibits superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity after heating treatment, which allows oil to permeate while blocking water. Interestingly, the heated silver‐coated mesh gains superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties after UV irradiation, which allows water to permeate but prevents oil. As a consequence, the as‐fabricated mesh is capable of achieving two completely different oil/water separation processes. In addition, the silver‐coated mesh shows excellent environmental stability under a series of harsh conditions.CONCLUSIONA novel smart engineering material with UV‐induced switchable wettability was successfully fabricated. In view of the rapid and simple fabrication approach, it is envisaged that this work will provide a promising prospect of large‐scale production in smart oil/water separation materials. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry