Ascendant bioinspired emulsion separation materials: From the perspective of droplet movement

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2023-10, Vol.474, p.145491, Article 145491
• Main Authors: Gao, Hanpeng, Chang, Siyu, Liu, Jiaxi, Liu, Yan, Meng, Zong, Song, Yunyun, Wang, Xi, Han, Zhiwu, Ren, Luquan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Droplet adsorption; Droplet aggregation; Droplet interception; Emulsion separation
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.145491

[Display omitted] •The first review of emulsion separation materials based on droplet motion.•Droplet interception, droplet adsorption and droplet aggregation.•Introduce the latest research progress of emulsion separation materials.•Provide inspiration for new interface behaviors and mechanisms. Emulsion separation materials have attracted intense attention due to their advantages of high separation efficiency, good reusability, self-healing, no secondary pollution and pollutant degradation. However, there are still some key challenges. Fortunately, biological surfaces show many unique structures and nearly perfect functions, especially the special motion behavior and mechanism of droplets, which provide advanced design ideas for emulsion separation materials. Therefore, this review highlights recent advances of the bioinspired emulsion separation materials from the perspective of droplet movement for the first time. Firstly, some typical organisms and artificial biomimetic materials with special wettability and unique structures are described in detail. Next, the fundamental models and the factors affecting the wettability are addressed. After that, the specific applications of emulsion separation materials in efficient emulsion separation are systematically summarized from the perspectives of droplet interception, droplet adsorption, and droplet aggregation. Finally, we summarize the challenges and development trends of ascendant bioinspired emulsion separation materials, and it is evident that the foreseeable opportunities far outweigh the current difficulties.