Effect of Flexibility and Nanotriboelectrification on the Dynamic Reversibility of Water Intrusion into Nanopores: Pressure-Transmitting Fluid with Frequency-Dependent Dissipation Capability

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2019-10, Vol.11 (43), p.40842-40849
• Main Authors: Lowe, Alexander, Tsyrin, Nikolay, Chorążewski, Mirosław, Zajdel, Paweł, Mierzwa, Michał, Leão, Juscelino B, Bleuel, Markus, Feng, Tong, Luo, Dong, Li, Mian, Li, Dan, Stoudenets, Victor, Pawlus, Sebastian, Faik, Abdessamad, Grosu, Yaroslav
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b14031

In this article, the effect of a porous material’s flexibility on the dynamic reversibility of a nonwetting liquid intrusion was explored experimentally. For this purpose, high-pressure water intrusion together with high-pressure in situ small-angle neutron scattering were applied for superhydrophobic grafted silica and two metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with different flexibility [ZIF-8 and Cu2(tebpz) (tebpz = 3,3′,5,5′tetraethyl-4,4′-bipyrazolate)]. These results established the relation between the pressurization rate, water intrusion–extrusion hysteresis, and porous materials’ flexibility. It was demonstrated that the dynamic hysteresis of water intrusion into superhydrophobic nanopores can be controlled by the flexibility of a porous material. This opens a new area of applications for flexible MOFs, namely, a smart pressure-transmitting fluid, capable of dissipating undesired vibrations depending on their frequency. Finally, nanotriboelectric experiments were conducted and the results showed that a porous material’s topology is important for electricity generation while not affecting the dynamic hysteresis at any speed.