Abstract
Paraffin wax emulsions have gained immense attention as a cheap, environment-friendly, and aroma-free material for preparing superhydrophobic coatings. In this work, paraffin wax (PWs) capsules consisting of hydrophobic silica nanoparticles were used for coating desert sand. Different types of the hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, modified with new oleylamino- and oleylamide silane precursors, were prepared in the presence and absence of paraffin waxes. The particle sizes, surface charges, thermal stability, surface morphologies, and wetting characteristics of these nanoparticles were investigated. The combination of these superhydrophobic silica nanoparticles and desert sand, showed excellent water repellency; stable water droplets remained on the sand surface, without any wetting or permeation. Furthermore, the mixing of the superhydrophobic sand with untreated sand (mixing ratio 1:10 wt %), with a thickness of 2 cm, sustained a great water-holding capacity with a water column height of 35 cm. The good thermal stability of the PWs capsules containing hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, along with their good water-holding capacity, make them potential candidates for developing superhydrophobic sand for desert water storage and transportation.
Highlights
Sand dunes are an abundant natural resource in the desert, are characterized with a low water storage capacity and suffer from a temporary shortage of water especially when cultivated under arid conditions
The hydrophobic silica nanoparticles (HSNP) prepared in the presence of the Paraffin Waxes (PWs) emulsion were obtained in double oil/water/oil emulsion, as revealed by the optical microscope images shown in Figure 1a–c and the dropping test results
The modification of desert sand with a well-adhered and thermally stable, rough superhydrophobic coatings is a key challenge for achieving superhydrophobic sand
Summary
Sand dunes are an abundant natural resource in the desert, are characterized with a low water storage capacity and suffer from a temporary shortage of water especially when cultivated under arid conditions. The use of “superhydrophobic sand” has been proposed, to realize the storage and transportation of the surface water of sandy soils [7,8,9,10,11,12]. Various methods, such as the combustion of oil waste [13], crude oil emulsion [14], paraffin wax [15], natural wax [16], and oil and fatty acids [17] have been proposed for the development of hydrophobic coatings. The paraffin waxes contained long-chain hydrocarbons that can be used to form a hydrophobic surface and exhibited
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