Leaf-like Structure Research Articles

Double-layer microencapsulation of ammonium polyphosphate and its enhancement on the hydrophobicity and flame retardancy of cellulose paper.

Cellulose paper is a flammable and hygroscopic material, which limits its application. In this paper, melamine-formaldehyde resin (MF) and silane coupling agents were used to microencapsulate ammonium polyphosphate (Si@MFAPP) in turn and added to the fibers suspension to prepare hydrophobic and flame-retardant cellulose paper. It was found that the surface of the ammonium polyphosphate (APP) was smooth with the water solubility of 0.24 g/100 mL. After microencapsulation with MF, the surface of MFAPP became rough, and the solubility was reduced to 0.1 g/100 mL. When further encapsulation with polysiloxanes, the surface showed significantly higher roughness, and a lotus leaf-like microspherical structure was formed. Specifically, its solubility decreased to 0.04 g/100 mL. In addition, the residual char weight of Si@MFAPP at 800 °C was increased from 25.27 % to 38.56 %. The water contact angle (WCA) of MFAPP/Pulp increased from 84.23° to 90.78°, and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) increased from 31.8 % to 34.1 %, meaning that the flame retardancy was obviously raised. The WCA of Si@MFAPP/Pulp enhanced to 96.45°, and the LOI was 34.5 %, meaning that the hydrophobicity was further raised. Therefore, Si@MFAPP significantly improved the flame-retardancy and hydrophobicity of the cellulose paper.

Functional retrogression of LOFSEPs in specifying floral organs in barley

AbstractThe barley genome encodes a complete set of MADS-box proteins sharing homology with components of the ABCDE model, which explains the molecular basis of floral organ identity in angiosperm flowers. Although the E-class members are universally expressed across floral whorls and crucial for flower development in Arabidopsis and rice, the functional role of the barley E-class LOFSEP subfamily (comprising MADS1, MADS5, and MADS34) remains elusive, particularly during spikelet formation. Here, we characterize the single, double and triple lofsep mutants in barley in an attempt to overcome the anticipated genetic redundancy. Surprisingly, loss of function of all LOFSEP members only disturbs lemma development, either converting this hull organ into a leaf-like structure or reducing its size. The inner organs, including lodicules, anthers and pistil remain unaffected. A systematic interrogation of how ABCDE class genes are affected in all whorls of the mutants was undertaken. Generally, in the lemma and palea of the lofsep mutants, A- and E-class genes are hyperactivated, B- and C- classes are slightly repressed, and D-class genes show unchanged expression in these inner organs. Intriguingly, loss of function of MADS6, an AGL6 member closely related to the E-class genes, leads to most organs being transformed into lemma-like organs with new spikelets generated from the center of the flower. Contrasting with rice, these findings suggest barley LOFSEPs may have regressed in determining floral organ identity, and this could be partially compensated by HvMADS6.

Theoretical design and synthesis of Co30Ni60/CC for high selective methanol oxidation assisted energy-saving hydrogen production

The integration of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) with hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) represents an advanced approach to hydrogen production technology. Nonetheless, the rational design and synthesis of bifunctional catalysts for both MOR and HER with exceptional activity, stability and selectivity present formidable challenges. In this work, firstly, density functional theory (DFT) was utilized to design and evaluate material models with high performance for both MOR and HER. Secondly, guided by DFT, Co30Ni60/CC (CC, carbon cloth) composites with a leaf-like nanosheet structure were successfully fabricated via electrodeposition. In the MOR process, Ni acts as the predominant active center, while Co amplifies the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and enhances the selectivity of methanol oxidation. Conversely, in the HER process, Co serves as the primary active center, with Ni augmenting the charge transfer rate. The electrochemical results demonstrate that Co30Ni60/CC exhibits exceptional performance in both MOR and HER at a current density (j) of 10 mA cm−2, with peak potentials of 1.323 V and −95 mV, respectively. Additionally, it shows remarkable selectivity for the oxidiation of methanol to high value-added formic acid. Thirdly, following a 100 h chronopotentiometry (CP) test, the required potential demonstrates an increase of 4.9 % (MOR) and 8.1 % (HER), signifying the superior stability of Co30Ni60/CC compared to those reported in the literature. The exceptional performance of Co30Ni60/CC can be primarily attributed to that the leaf-like nanosheets structure not only exposes a plethora of active sites but also facilitates electrolyte diffusion, the monolithic structure prepared by electrodeposition enhances its stability, and the transfer of electrons from Co to Ni regulates its electronic structure, as corroborated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density of states (DOS) analyses. Finally, at the same j, the voltage required by the Co30Ni60/CC||Co30Ni60/CC electrolytic cell, powered by an electrochemical workstation, is 198 mV lower than that required for alkaline water-splitting. Meanwhile, at higher j (100 mA cm−2), the electrolytic cell exhibits sustained and stable operation for 150 h, enabling high-efficiency hydrogen production and the synthesis of high value-added formic acid.

Leaf-like Multiphase Metal Phosphides as Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts toward Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries.

Developing a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst is crucial to improve the reversibility and cycle life of a rechargeable zinc-air battery (RZAB). Here, transition metal phosphides (TMPs) with a leaf-like hierarchical structure and multiphase composition can be synthesized by the "alloying-dealloying-phosphating" strategy. The as-prepared P-NiCo(1:1) electrode takes advantage of its internal dense nanoholes and synergistic effects induced by NiCoP-containing polyphase to reveal multifunctional catalysis, such as OER and ORR. In combination of these advantages, P-NiCo(1:1) exhibits an extremely low OER overpotential of 220 mV at 10 mA cm-2, a higher half-wave potential of 0.79 V for ORR, and a smaller potential difference (ΔE) of 0.66 V. The liquid RZAB with P-NiCo(1:1) as a cathodic bifunctional catalyst delivers a higher open-circuit voltage (OCV), a larger power density of 175 mW cm-2, and longer cycling life for more than 180 h. Even when applied in solid-state flexible RZABs, the lightweight module could start high-power devices. With theoretical confirmation, the major phase NiCoP of P-NiCo(1:1) is helpful to increase the density of states, regulate the d-band center, and decrease the energy barrier to 2.13 eV, which are significantly superior to those of Co2P and Ni2P. It is believable that the synthetic strategy and activity-promoting mechanism acquired from this research can offer a guide to designing a promising rechargeable zinc-air battery system.

Patterned Ultraslippery Surfaces of Stainless Steel Prepared by Femtosecond Laser Ablation for Directional Manipulation of Liquid Droplets.

Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) have promising applications in chip laboratories, nanofriction power generation, and microfluidics due to their excellent properties such as good hydrophobicity and low adhesion. However, the self-driven stability of conventionally lubricated surfaces is not high, and the velocity of liquid droplets is difficult to regulate. This greatly limits the potential applications of SLIPS. A strategy is offered to prepare microporous structures of SLIPS directly on a stainless-steel substrate using femtosecond laser processing technology as the main means to realize exhibiting smoothness to liquids. At the same time, the principle of bionics is utilized, the porous structure of SLIPS is combined with the groove structure of rice leaves, or porous structures are combined with the wedge structure of shorebird beak to prepare the three-dimensional structure of SLIPS. Droplets exhibit significant individual anisotropy on three-dimensional (3D) SLIPS of leaf-like groove stripe structure in rice, enabling the precise control of droplet motion direction. When droplets are transported in wedge-shaped SLIPS with an asymmetric structure, the wedge edge can limit the direction of droplet motion while squeezing the droplet to generate Laplace pressure gradient, which achieves continuous self-driven transport of droplets. In addition, based on the above two processing strategies, an information transfer device is designed: the splicing of the self-driven transport surface with anisotropic topological channels enables the differential drive for liquid transport, which provides the conditions for the information transfer of the droplets. This strategy not only is simple and efficient but also provides new ideas for the effective development of multifunctional SLIPS as well as lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic domains.

Bio-inspired superhydrophobic fiber membrane for oil-water separation and non-destructive transport of liquids in corrosive environments

Conventional polymer separation membranes or coatings suffer from poor separation performance and serious failure in highly corrosive environments, due to their low chemical and mechanical stability. Herein, a simple electrospraying and electrospinning strategy was used to prepare flexible superhydrophobic carbon fiber membranes (FSCFM). The wettability of FSCFM was improved by forming a lotus leaf-like hierarchical rough structure on its surface. The FSCFM exhibited an excellent permeation flux of immiscible oil-water mixtures (up to 15,800 L m−2 h−1) and water-in-oil emulsions (over 5500 L m−2 h−1), while the separation efficiencies were always kept at more than 99 % after 25 consecutive separations. Even in corrosive environments, its separation performance did not show any degradation. Notably, except for recovering floating oil under external driving forces with excellent cyclic stabilities, FSCFM was also able to transport various corrosive solutions with high efficiencies (99.9 %). After multiple mechanical damages and bending cycles, the FSCFM remained superhydrophobic. It could also maintain its repellency in strong acids/bases, high salt solutions and even under high-temperature environments (94.5 °C). These superior properties make it a strong candidate for oil-water mixture/emulsion separation and non-destructive transport of highly corrosive fluids.

A novel flexible electrochemical sensor with multi-level carbon nano-array for in-situ real-time monitoring of H2O2 secreted by cells

Developing ultra-sensitive sensors for in-situ real-time monitoring of low-level cell secretions is of paramount importance in understanding various biological processes, and it is still a challenge. Herein, for the first time, we constructed a novel flexible Au-Co@C-CNT/CC sensing electrode with nano-array structures by in-situ synthesis, catalytic pyrolysis and electrochemical deposition, and successfully realized the real-time monitoring of H2O2 released by cells. The 3D leaf-like structure of the electrode not only provided a large electroactive surface area (7.66 cm2) but also exhibited a microvilli structure of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the surface, which further enhanced the presence of active sites. Moreover, the Co-Nx sites generated by catalytic pyrolysis can promote the adsorption and catalysis of H2O2 on the surface of sensing electrode. The introduction of Au NPs facilitated the transfer of electrons, thereby enhancing the electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic performance of Au-Co@C-CNT/CC. Benefiting from these unique superiorities, this sensing platform displayed excellent performance for H2O2 determination with a wide linear range (10–27080 μM) and low detection limit (0.13 μM). Notably, the good biocompatibility and flexibility of this sensing platform allowed direct culture of human lung cancer cells (A549 cells) on the electrodes, which can realize dynamic in-situ real-time detection of H2O2 released by cells, showing great potential in the diagnosis of related diseases.

Physiological adaptation to irradiance in duckweeds is species and accession specific and depends on light habitat niche.

Duckweeds span 36 species of free-floating aquatic organisms with body sizes ranging from 2 mm to 10 mm, where each plant body plan is reduced to a largely leaf-like structure. As an emerging crop, their fast growth rates offer potential for cultivation in closed systems. We describe a novel UK collection derived from low light (dLL) or high light (dHL) habitats, profiled for growth, photosynthesis, and photoprotection (non-photochemical quenching, NPQ) responses. Twenty-three accessions of three Lemna species and one Spirodela polyrhiza were grown under relatively low light (LL: 100 μmol m-2 s-1) and high light (HL: 350 μmol m-2 s-1) intensities. We observed broad within- and between-species level variation in photosynthesis acclimation. Duckweeds grown under HL exhibited a lower growth rate, biomass, chlorophyll, and quantum yield of photosynthesis. In HL compared with LL, carotenoid de-epoxidation state and NPQ were higher, whilst PSII efficiency (φPSII) and Chl a:b ratios were unchanged. The dLL plants showed relatively stronger acclimation to HL compared with dHL plants, especially Lemna japonica accessions. These achieved faster growth in HL with concurrent higher carotenoid levels and NPQ, and less degradation of chlorophyll. We conclude that these data support local adaptation to the light environment in duckweed affecting acclimation in controlled conditions.

Fabrication of well-aligned Co-MOF arrays through a controlled and moderate process for the development of a flexible tetrabromobisphenol A sensor.

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) has attracted a great deal of attention due to its side effects and potential bioaccumulation properties. It is of great importance to construct and develop novel electrochemical sensors for the sensitive and selective detection of TBBPA. In the present study, cobalt (Co) based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were synthesized on carbon cloth (CC) by using cobalt nitrate hexahydrate and 2-methylimidazole. The morphological characterization was carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that Co-MOFs/CC have a leaf-like structure and abundant surface functional groups. The electrochemical properties of the sensor were investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The effects of different ratios of metal ions to organic ligands, reaction temperature, time, concentration, pH value of the electrolyte, and incubation time on the oxidation peak current of TBBPA were studied. Under the optimal conditions, the linear range of the designed sensor was 0.1 μM-100 μM, and the limit of detection was 40 nM. The proposed sensor is simple, of low cost and efficient, which can greatly facilitate the detection tasks of environmental monitoring workers.

Electrolyte-dependent HER activity of mesoporous iron-based ZIF-67 leaf-like nanosheets

Owing to its greater specific surface area and electrical conductivity, mesoporous nature and leaf-like structure, Fe@ZIF-67-2 showed an overpotential of 45 mV and a Tafel slope of 32 mV dec−1 along with a TOF of 129.35 ms−1 in 1 M KOH.

Amphistomes.

Amphistomes, commonly referred to as 'stomach' or 'rumen' flukes because of the localization of these flukes in the stomach of ruminants, are digenetic trematodes distinguished by the absence of an oral sucker and the position of the ventral sucker or acetabulum at the posterior end of the body. The body is characterized by a leaf-like fleshy structure, pink or red with a large posterior sucker. Amphistomes are an important group of parasites since they cause 'amphistomiasis' (variously known as paramphistomosis/amphistomosis), a serious disease of great economic importance in ruminants worldwide. These parasites have a broad spectrum of definitive hosts together with a wide geographical distribution. Though they form a continuous evolutional lineage from fishes to mammals, amphistomes mainly inhabit the rumen and reticulum of ruminant mammals, while some species occur in the large intestine or parenteric sites of ruminants, pigs, equines and man.

Fabrication of superaerophobic Ru-doped c-CoSe2 for efficient hydrogen production

Ru-doped c-CoSe2 with a superaerophobic leaf-like microarray hollow structure was fabricated to show excellent HER catalytic performance.

Fine-tuning interconnected leaf-like architecture of Co-MOFs by varying linker concentrations for solid-state supercapacitors

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have risen as potential contenders for applications in supercapacitors (SCs) owing to their tunable porosity and surface chemistry. In this article, we synthesized Co-MOFs electrodes via Reaction Diffusion Framework approach, employing different linker concentrations, namely 0.7 M (CMA), 0.8 M (CMB), 0.9 M (CMC), and 1 M (CMD). The primary focus of this article lies in fine-tuning the concentration of the linker to optimize the synthesis of Co-MOFs, along with investigating how this optimization enhances their performance in an electrochemical study. Structural, morphological, and compositional studies have been conducted on Co-MOFs electrodes. Morphological studies unveiled CMB electrode exhibited a high interconnected leaf-like structure which enables high structural stability, low resistance, quick ion diffusion, and efficient charge-transfer in SCs than other electrodes. While the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis confirmed that the Co 2p exhibited an oxidation state of + 2. The electrochemical results demonstrated a direct correlation between linker concentration and the resultant leaf-like architecture. Specifically, the CMB exhibited high SCs performance, including a specific capacity (Csp) of 66 mAh/g and a specific capacitance (Cs) of 597 F/g at 5 mV/s, maintaining an impressive cyclic stability of 80 % over 3000th cycles at 100 mV/s. Additionally, it achieved a good energy density (Ed) of 11.14 Wh/kg and power density (Pd) of 4000 W/kg at 4 mA/cm². Furthermore, the solid-state device was fabricated and evaluated for its practical application in SCs. This device achieved higher Cs of 49 F/g at 10 mV/s, along with an 82 % retention rate over 2000 cycles at 15 mA. Moreover, this device attained a good Ed of 3.56 Wh/kg and Pd of 2266 W/kg at 4 mA. These findings manifested the significance of tailoring the morphology of Co-MOFs through optimal linker concentration for achieving high-performance solid-state SCs.

Magnetic field assisted chemical deposition synthesis of leaf-like Co3O4 nanostructure for supercapacitor electrode

A novel leaf-like cobalt oxide particles were prepared by a magnetic field assisted chemical deposition method and subsequently sintering process. The phase structure, morphological changes, and electrochemical performance of the cobalt oxide particles were systematically tested and the effect of the magnetic field on the product morphology was studied. Owin to the unique leaf-like shape structure, the optimal Co3O4 particles at 80 mT displayed the highest specific capacitance of 1247.4 Fg−1 at 1 A/g, with a retention rate of 94.1 % after 10,000 cycles.

Effects of nozzle orifice shape on jet breakup and splashing during liquid jet impact onto a horizontal plate

In some accident situations in nuclear power plants, liquid coolant is discharged from a non-circular rupture hole. Thus, to improve the understanding on the effects of nozzle orifice shape on the jet behavior, experiments were carried out on the liquid jet ejected from oval nozzles. In the experiments, water was used as the test liquid, the area-equivalent nozzle diameter was within 1.8-2.9 mm, the aspect ratio of the nozzle hole was within 2.6-4.8, and the jet velocity was varied within 0.25-11.3 m/s. At low and high liquid flow rates, the liquid jet behaved similarly to the circular jet; the jet breakup lengths and the size of the droplets formed after the jet breakup were expressed by similar dimensionless correlations as those for the circular jet. At the intermediate liquid flow rate, a bamboo leaf-like structure formed on the liquid jet dominated the jet breakup. The jet breakup length was therefore correlated using a theory for the surface tension-induced shape oscillation of elliptical fluid. These correlations enabled to estimate the liquid jet state at any distance from the nozzle. It was also confirmed that if the state of the liquid jet at the impact point is known, the splash rate and the size of the splashed droplets can be predicted satisfactorily using the available correlations based on the experimental data for the circular jet. Therefore, the present work extended the available knowledge on the liquid jet discharged from a circular nozzle to enable the prediction of the behavior of the liquid jet and the characteristics of the secondary droplets produced during liquid jet impact onto a solid surface for the oval nozzles.

Boosting the performance of reverse osmosis membrane by macrocyclic molecule through interfacial coordination-driven strategy

Developing polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membrane with superior permeability and salt rejection is highly desired for desalination. In this study, we propose an interfacial coordination-driven strategy to promote the incorporation of macrocyclic molecule into the polyamide layer and further improve the performance of RO membrane. To this end, the macrocyclic molecule Noria and transition metal salt Fe(acac)3 are added into the aqueous phase and organic phase respectively. During the interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction of m-phenylenediamine (MPD) with trimesoyl chloride (TMC), Fe3+ as electron acceptor would coordinate with the electron donor Noria to form Noria-Fe3+ complex at the aqueous-organic interface. This effectively promotes the diffusion of Noria and its further incorporation into the resulting polyamide layer. As a result, the RO membrane with Noria-Fe3+ exhibits closely packed band-like surface morphology, obviously different from the traditional leaf-like structure formed by MPD-TMC. Benefitting from the inner cavity of Noria, the permeance of RO membrane is significantly improved from 1.37 Lm−2h−1bar−1 to 3.87 Lm−2h−1 bar−1 at the optimal Noria and Fe(acac)3 concentrations of 0.1 wt%, while the NaCl rejection experiences little change from 98.8 % to 98.2 %. Besides, the flux decline ratio and flux recovery ratio of obtained RO membrane are 21 % and 85 % respectively in the bovine serum albumin fouling test. It exhibits more excellent anti-fouling ability than the nascent membrane due to the better hydrophilicity and smoother membrane surface. This simple strategy may pave a novel way for the application of other molecules with special structures as additives to fabricate high-performance RO membranes.

Novel synthesis of ZIF67 derived cobalt and nickel oxides induced by ammonium tetrafluoroborate as electroactive material of battery supercapacitor hybrids

Cobalt and nickel oxides with large theoretical capacitance, high redox activity and low-cost features are widely applied as electroactive material of battery supercapacitor hybrids (BSH) to reduce energy consumption and create renewable energy. Synthesizing cobalt and nickel oxides using zeolitic imidazolate framework 67 (ZIF67) can enhance conductivity and electroactivity and maintain surface area and porosity of ZIF67. Structure directing agent (SDA) can control morphology and improve electrochemical performance. It is attractive to apply SDA for controlling morphology of oxidized ZIF67 and achieving excellent energy storage. In this work, ammonium tetrafluoroborate (NH4BF4) is firstly applied as SDA to synthesize ZIF67 derivative, which is then annealed to form leaf-like cobalt and nickel oxides as electroactive material. The optimal oxidized ZIF67 derivative shows a larger specific capacitance (CF) of 828.9 F/g than those of 519.9 and 5.0 F/g respectively for the oxidized ZIF67 and pristine ZIF67 electrodes, due to preferable leaf-like structure and (311) facet for the former case. A BSH with oxidized ZIF67 derivative positive electrode and graphene negative electrode shows maximum energy density of 10.2 Wh/kg at 357 W/kg, and CF retention of 91% and Coulombic efficiency of 97% after 10,000 cycles. The novel SDA of NH4BF4 is expected to design other efficient electroactive materials for effective energy storage.

A control strategy for microwave absorption performance on a two-dimensional scale

Two-dimensional (2D) zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are promising materials for microwave absorption for their desirable features. However, there has been a lack of a corresponding relationship between the growth pattern of 2D ZIF materials at the micro-scale and the macroscopic microwave absorption performance. This work synthesized 2D ZIF-L and its derivatives via a precise structural regulation strategy. By changing the axial orientation of crystal growth, the synthesis of two-dimensional bladed and rod-shaped precursors with controllable thickness and varying shapes at the macro scale was controlled. The leaf-like structure of ZIF-L derivates with large surface area is beneficial for the exposure of reactive oxygen vacancies, increasing the relaxation loss. While the ultra-thin rod-shaped structure which can shorten the electron migration and jump paths to reduce the energy barrier is advantageous to conductive loss. As a result, the prepared L-7 exhibits superior electromagnetic wave absorption ability with the widest effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.53 GHz at a thickness of 1.80 mm. When the total thickness is 1.90 mm, R-7 can exhibit the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of about −60.40 dB. This study emphasizes the 2D scale regulation for obtaining new generation and environmentally friendly microwave absorbers. Metal-based materials derived from ZIF-L with extremely thin thicknesses and a large surface area have shown great potential in microwave absorbers.

Brine available two-dimensional nano-architectonics of fluorescent probe based on phosphate doped ZIF-L for detection of Fe3+

Herein, we propose a simple and effective strategy for designing a zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) fluorescent probe with a two-dimensional leaf-like structure. By doping ZIF-L with phosphate, we developed a fluorescent probe for iron (Fe3+) in systems with high salinity. The fluorescence of P-ZIF-L was quenched effectively with the presence of Fe3+. The physicochemical structure, surface morphology, selectivity, stability and composition of the probe were investigated. Under optimized conditions, the fluorescent probe had a detection limit of 0.5 μM. Furthermore, the results that the probe exhibited desirable salt-tolerance and was suitable for determination of Fe3+ in brine water samples with satisfactory results.

Robust omniphobic ceramic hollow fibre membrane with leaf-like copper oxide hierarchical structure by membrane distillation

Omniphobic membranes have recently shown promising performance in water desalination using MD due to their ability to repel all liquid drop types and keep the membrane surface dry. This study successfully modified the surface of robust hydrophilic mullite-stainless steel hollow fibre membranes (M-SS HFMs) to omniphobic properties. The omniphobic layer was achieved through surface grafting with copper oxide (CuO) rough layer by a hydrothermal technique at different hydrothermal reaction times of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 h, followed by fluorination step using 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorode-cyltriethoxysilane (C8, 97 %). Next, the omniphobic membranes were characterized in terms of membrane morphology, roughness, mechanical strength, pore size/distribution, liquid entry pressure, contact angle and fouling accumulation. The prepared omniphobic M-SS HFMs were also tested through the DCMD system at 80 °C using a feed solution containing 35 g/L of NaCl and 10 mg/L of humic acid as a foulant agent. The results indicated that M-SS HFMs subjected to a 4 h hydrothermal reaction time, resulting in a leaf-like surface structure, exhibited superior characteristics compared to other omniphobic HFMs reported in the literature that used titania (SiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and cobalt (Co3O4) as roughing material. These superior features included higher roughness of 0.798 μm, liquid entry pressure of 5.40 bar, and enhanced liquid repellence and contact angles towards DI water of 167°, olive oil of 152°, and ethanol of 145°. Additionally, the M-SS HFMs at 4 h hydrothermal demonstrated remarkable performance in terms of rejection performance (99.99 %) and vapour flux stability of about 29 kg/m2.h in DCMD operations, surpassing the performance of omniphobic HFMs fabricated using mullite-ball clay, mullite-kaolinite, and alumina (Al2O3). Notably, no fouling/wetting on the membrane surface and elements leaching was observed throughout the MD operation. These findings highlight the potential of this omniphobic HFM for seawater desalination using DCMD systems, even in the presence of organic contaminants.