Abstract
The oil detachment from solid surfaces has a major influence on enhanced oil recovery, self-cleaning performance, flotation efficiency, oil/water separation, and so on. In this paper, the mechanism of oil detachment from surfaces of different hydrophobicity was studied via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The oil detachment process becomes slower and the oil-solid contact angle is smaller with the increasing hydrophobicity of the silica surface. The simulation results showed that the disordered arrangement of oil molecules facilitated the formation of water channels on hydrophobic surfaces. Then, expansion of water channels becomes the key to oil detachment. The main driving forces are the Coulomb interactions and the H-bond formation between water and surface. The resistances are from hydrophobic effects by which the oil layer couldn’t be detached thoroughly from the hydrophobic surface. Data availability statementThe data that supports the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary material.
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