Temperature-induced hydrophobicity transition of MXene membrane for directly preparing W/O emulsions

Although hydrophilic membranes are desired for reducing resistance to water permeation, hydrophilic surfaces are not used in the water-in-oil(W/O) membrane emulsification process because water spreads on the hydrophilic surface without forming droplets. Here, we report that a hydrophilic ceramic membrane can form a hydrophobic interface in diesel at a higher temperature;interestingly, the experiments show that the contact angle increases when the temperature rises. The hydrophilic membrane surface evolves into a hydrophobic interface, particularly near the boiling point of water, resulting in a water contact angle of 147.5° ± 1.2°. This work established a method for preparing W/O monodispersed emulsions by direct emulsification of hydrophilic ceramic membranes at a temperature close to the boiling point of water.Additionally, it made high flux of membrane emulsification of monodispersed W/O emulsions possible,which satisfied the industrial requirements of fluidized catalytic cracking in the petrochemical industry.

Carbon Capture from Flue Gas Based on the Combination of Non-Contact Hydrophobic Porous Ceramic Membrane and Bubbling Absorption

A hybrid system combined with a non-contact membrane and bubbling absorption is proposed to capture CO_(2) from flue gas.The non-contact way of membrane and liquid absorbent effectively avoids the reduction of gas diffusion flux through the membrane.High-porosity ceramic membranes in hybrid systems are used for gas-solid separation in fuel gas treatment.Due to the high content of H_(2)O and cement dust in the flue gas of the cement plant,the membrane is hydrophobically modified by polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)to improve its anti-water,anti-fouling,and self-cleaning performances.The results show that the diffusion flux of CO_(2) through the membrane is still higher than 7.0×10^(−3) mol/m^(2)s(20%CO_(2) concentration)even under the influence of water and cement dust.In addition,slaked lime selected as the absorbent is cheap and the product after bubbling absorption is nano-scale light calcium carbonate.To sum up,the hybrid system combining non-contact membrane and bubbling absorption is expected to be used to capture carbon dioxide from the flue gas of the cement plant.

Reconcile the contradictory wettability requirements for the reduction and oxidation half-reactions in overall CO_(2) photoreduction via alternately hydrophobic surfaces

The overall photocatalytic CO_(2) reduction reaction(OPCRR)that can directly convert CO_(2) and H_(2)O into fuels represents a promising renewable energy conversion technology.As a typical redox reaction,the OPCRR involves two half-reactions:the CO_(2) reduction half-reaction(CRHR)and the water oxidation half-reaction(WOHR).Generally,both half-reactions can be promoted by adjusting the wettability of catalysts.However,there is a contradiction in wettability requirements for the two half-reactions.Specifically,CRHR prefers a hydrophobic surface that can accumulate more CO_(2) molecules on the active sites,ensuring the appropriate ratio of gas-phase(CO_(2))to liquid-phase(H_(2)O)reactants.Conversely,the WOHR prefers a hydrophilic surface that can promote the departure of the gaseous product(O_(2))from the catalyst surface,preventing isolation between active sites and the reactant(H_(2)O).Here,we successfully reconciled the contradictory wettability requirements for the CRHR and WOHR by creating an alternately hydrophobic catalyst.This was achieved through a selectively hydrophobic modification method and a charge-transfer-control strategy.Consequently,the collaboratively promoted CRHR and WOHR led to a significantly enhanced OPCRR with a solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency of 0.186%.Notably,in ethanol production,the catalyst exhibited a 10.64-fold increase in generation rate(271.44μmol g^(-1)h~(-1))and a 4-fold increase in selectivity(55.77%)compared to the benchmark catalyst.This innovative approach holds great potential for application in universal overall reactions involving gas participation.

Amino-functionalized UiO-66-doped mixed matrix membranes with high permeation performance and fouling resistance

For the reduction of bovine serum proteins from wastewater,a novel mixed matrix membrane was prepared by functionalizing the substrate material polyaryletherketone(PAEK),followed by carboxyl groups(C-SPAEKS),and then adding amino-functionalized UiO-66-NH_(2)(Am-UiO-66-NH_(2)).Aminofunctionalization of UiO-66 was accomplished by melamine,followed by an amidation reaction to immobilize Am-UiO-66-NH_(2),which was immobilized on the surface of the membrane as well as in the pore channels,which enhanced the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface while increasing the negative potential of the membrane surface.This nanoparticle-loaded ultrafiltration membrane has good permeation performance,with a pure water flux of up to 482.3 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1) for C-SPAEKS/AmUiO-66-NH_(2) and a retention rate of up to 98.7%for bovine serum albumin(BSA)-contaminated solutions.Meanwhile,after several hydrophilic modifications,the flux recovery of BSA contaminants by this series of membranes increased from 56.2%to 80.55%of pure membranes.The results of ultra-filtration flux time tests performed at room temperature showed that the series of ultrafiltration membranes remained relatively stable over a test time of 300 min.Thus,the newly developed mixed matrix membrane showed potential for high efficiency and stability in wastewater treatment containing bovine serum proteins.

Improvement of hydrophilicity of porous PVDF membranes with LiCl additives

Porous polyvinylidene fluoride（PVDF）membranes blended with LiCl are prepared through the phase inversion method to obtain a good support layer for air dehumidification.The hydrophilicity of the resulting membrane is evaluated by water contact angle measurements and vapor adsorption tests.The moisture permeation performance of the membrane is measured by permeation tests in terms of total mass transfer coefficients and moisture permeability rates.It is found that water contact angles and water vapor adsorption capacities increase with the increasing LiCl content in the casting solution.As the LiCl content increases,the total mass transfer coefficient increases slightly at a low LiCl content（below 2.5%）and then improves greatly at a high LiCl content（above 2.5%）,whereas the moisture permeation rate increases.The results demonstrate that LiCl can remarkably improve the hydrophilicity of PVDF membranes,and then greatly enhance moisture permeation performance.

Hydrophobic modification of SAPO-34 membranes for improvement of stability under wet condition

SAPO-34 zeolite membranes show high efficiency for CO2/CH4 separation but suffer from the reduction of separation performance when exposed to humid atmosphere.In this work,n-dodecyltrimethoxysilane(DTMS)was used to modify the hollow fibers supported SAPO-34 membranes to increase the external surface hydrophobicity and thus sustain their performance under moisture environment.The modified membranes were fully characterized.Their separation performance was extensively investigated in both dry and wet gaseous systems and compared with the un-modified ones.The un-modified SAPO-34 membrane exhibited a high separation selectivity of 160 and CO2 permeance of 1.18×10-6 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 for separation of dry CO2/CH4 at 298 K.However,its separation selectivity declined to 0.9 and the CO2 permeance was only about 1.7×10-8 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 for wet CO2/CH4 at same temperature.High temperature(e.g.353 K)could reduce the effect of moisture to improve SAPO-34 separation selectivity,but further increasing temperature(e.g.373 K)led to decrease in CO2/CH4 separation selectivity.A significant decrease of selectivity was observed at higher pressure drop.The modified SAPO-34 membrane showed decreased CO2 permeance but increased separation selectivity for dry CO2/CH4 gas mixture,and super performance for wet CO2/CH4 gas mixture due to the improved hydrophobicity of membrane surface.A separation selectivity of 65 and CO2 permeance of 4.73×10-8 mol·m-2·s-1·Pa-1 for wet CO2/CH4 mixture can be observed at 353 K with a pressure drop of 0.4 MPa.Furthermore,the modified membrane exhibited stable separation performance during the 120-hour test for wet CO2/CH4 mixture at 353 K.The hydrophobic modification paves a way for SAPO-34 membranes in real applications.

Feasibility analysis of SO_2 absorption using a hydrophilic ceramic membrane contactor

Hydrophilic ceramic membranes would be potential candidates for membrane gas absorption if they could be applied to appropriate separation processes.This study highlights a novel concept for the practical implementation of SO_2 absorption in hydrophilic ceramic membrane that exhibits outstanding thermal and mechanical stabilities.With this aim,we investigated experimentally the performance of SO_2 absorption into aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution in a hydrophilic alumina (Al_2O_3) membrane contactor in terms of SO_2 removal efficiency and SO_2 mass transfer flux,and compared the performance with that in a hydrophobic one.A series of experiments were performed at various conditions over a NaOH concentration range of 0–1.0 mol·L^(-1),a liquid flow rate range of 30–180 ml·min^(-1),a gas flow rate range of 120–1000 ml·min^(-1),an inlet SO_2 concentration range of 400–2000μl·L^(-1),and a temperature range of 10–35°C.It was found that the hydrophilic membrane was more competitive when using a NaOH concentration higher than 0.2 mol·L^(-1).Furthermore,it can be inferred that the hydrophilicα-Al_2O_3 membrane exhibited exceptional long-term stability under 480 h continuous operation.

Removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol from wasterwater by vacuum membrane distillation using hydrophobic PPESK hollow hiber membrane

2,4-Dichlorophenol was removed from wasterwater using a new hydrophobic poly（phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone） （PPESK） hollow fiber membrane by vacuum membrane distillation （VMD）.

Preparation of felt-metal supported modified polyvinyl alcohol composite hydrophilic ultrafiltration membrane

A novel technology of preparation of felt-metal supported modified polyvinyl alcohol（PVA） ultrafiltration（UF） membrane was invented, which could avoid the blockage of the holes of support layer and the leakage of the casting solution through the holes of support layer. Felt-metal supported ferric sulfate modified PVA composite UF membranes were prepared by the innovative technology. The results show that the composite membranes are used to treat 1 000 mg/L oil/water emulsion at trans-membrane pressure from 0.25 to 0.45 MPa, the permeate flux is from 36 to 52 L/（m2·h）, and the retention of chemical oxygen demand（COD） is over 92%. The composite membrane resistance increases with the increase of trans-naembrane pressure.

HYDROPHOBICITY－HYDROPHILICITY BALANCE RELATIONSHIPSFORCOLLECTORLESSFLOTATIONOFSULPHIDEMINERALS

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Hydrophilic/hydrophobic characters of antimicrobial peptides derived from animals and their effects on multidrug resistant clinical isolates

Multidrug resistant（MDR） pathogen infections are serious threats to hospitalized patients because of the limited therapeutic options. A novel group of antibiotic candidates, antimicrobial peptides（AMPs）, have recently shown powerful activities against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Unfortunately, the viability of using these AMPs in clinical settings remains to be seen, since most still need to be evaluated prior to clinical trials and not all of AMPs are potent against MDR clinical isolates. To find a connection between the characteristics of several of these AMPs and their effects against MDR pathogens, we selected 14 AMPs of animal origin with typical structures and evaluated their in vitro activities against clinical strains of extensive drugresistant Acinetobacter baumannii, methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli. Our results showed that these peptides＇ hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics, rather than their secondary structures, may explain their antibacterial effects on these clinical isolates. Peptides that are amphipathic along the longitudinal direction seemed to be effective against Gramnegative pathogens, while peptides with hydrophilic terminals separated by a hydrophobic intermediate section appeared to be effective against both Gramnegative and Gram-positive pathogens. Among these, cathelicidin-BF was found to inhibit all of the Gram-negative pathogens tested at dosages of no more than 16 mg/L, killing a pandrug-resistant A. baumannii strain within 2 h at 4×MICs and 4 h at 2×MICs. Tachyplesin III was also found capable of inhibiting all Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens tested at no more than 16 mg/L, and similarly killed the same A. baumannii strain within 4 h at 4×MICs and 2×MICs. These results suggest that both cathelicidin-BF and tachyplesin III are likely viable targets for the development of AMPs for clinical uses.

HYDROPHILIC MODIFICATION OF PPESK POROUS MEMBRANES VIA AQUEOUS SURFACE-INITIATED ATOM TRANSFER RADICAL POLYMERIZATION

Hydrophilic surface modification of poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone)(PPESK) porous membranes was achieved via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP) in aqueous medium.Prior to ATRP.chloromethyl groups were introduced onto PPESK main chains by chloromethylation.Chloromethvlated PPESK(CMPPESK) was fabricated into porous membrane through phase inversion technique.Hydrophilic poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)(P(PEGMA)) brushes were grafted from CMPPESK membrane ...

Hydrophilic Composite Polybutylene Terephthalate/Polyvinyl Alcohol Membranes Prepared by Electrospinning

A hydrophilic composite polybutylene terephthalate(PBT)/polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)membrane with great potential applications in biological filtration has been investigated in this research.The composite membranes were fabricated by electrospinning with PBT meltblown nonwovens as the receiving substrate.These membranes have higher strength than the conventional single layer electrospinning membrane,smaller pore diameter than the common meltblown PBT nonwovens,good hydrophilicity,and high water flux.The flux of the composite membrane was 5.97×10^(3) L/(m^(2)·h)for 5%(mass fraction)glucose solution,which was higher than that of the commercial blood filtration membranes.The optimal process for preparing PBT/PVA composite membranes was obtained by orthogonal experiments.In general,the preparation process is simple and easy to control.

Hydrophobic versus hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens on posterior capsule opacification: a Meta-analysis

AIM: To conduct a Meta-analysis pooling randomized controlled trials(RCTs) to compare hydrophobic with hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lenses in terms of posterior capsule opacification(PCO) development.METHODS: Electronic databases including PubMed,Embase, and the Cochrane Library were queried from their starting till January 2020. RCTs investigating the impact of hydrophobic versus hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lenses on PCO were considered eligible in this study. The pooled effect estimates were calculated using the random-effects model.RESULTS: Thirteen RCTs comprising of 939 patients(1263 eyes) were covered in this study. Patients with hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses had a lower PCO score than those with a hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lenses [standard mean difference:-1.80;95% confidence interval(CI):-2.62 to-0.98;P<0.001]. Moreover, the frequency of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet(Nd:YAG)capsulotomy in patients with hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses was significantly lower than patients with hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lenses(relative risk: 0.38;95%CI: 0.20-0.71;P=0.003).CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses are superior to hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lenses in patients after cataract surgery due to lower PCO score and reduced Nd:YAG capsulotomy. While similar studies are conducted by other researchers, the present study conducted subgroup analyses that show superior results with hydrophobic lenses in trials conducted in western countries.

Preparation and properties of metal-PVA composite hydrophilic ultrafiltration membranes

Metal-polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) composite ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by coating a certain concentration of PVA solution on metallic fiber sintered membranes. The effects of preparation conditions, such as the coating solution concentration, sequence and times of coating, and heat-treatment on the properties of the composite membranes were studied. The results show that the hole diameter of the composite membrane decreases with the increase of the concentration of PVA, the hole diameter of composite membrane is different when the sequence of coating is different. When the higher concentration of PVA solution is used to coat the metallic membrane for the first time and the other smaller one for the second time, the hole diameter of the composite membrane is relatively small, compared with that of the composite membrane made by the smaller concentration of PVA solution for the first time and the other higher one for the second time. The holes of the composite membrane contract and the stability of the membrane is improved by heat treatment. When metal-PVA composite hydrophilic membranes are used to treat the oil/water emulsion with the concentration of 1 000 mg·L -1 , the retention is from 80% to 90%, and the permeate flux is from 15 L·m -2 ·h -1 to 40 L·m -2 ·h -1 at pressure of 0.2 to 0.3 MPa.

Monitoring the spontaneous wetting process of hydrophobic microporous membrane assisted by alternating current impedance spectroscopy

In the process of membrane absorption,spontaneous wetting of hydrophobic microporous membrane causes membrane modification and increases membrane phase mass transfer resistance,which have attracted wide interest.However,due to the limitations of previous testing methods,the study of the spontaneous membrane wetting process is limited.Herein,we present a method for monitoring spontaneous membrane wetting by measuring its alternating current(AC)impedance.The impedance tests of the PVDF flat membranes and hollow fiber membranes were conducted in a two-electrode system.The results of equivalent circuit fitting indicate that the impedance value of the unwetted membrane is about 1.02×10^(10)Ω,which is close to the theoretical value of 1.4×10^(10)Ω,and this method can quantify the electrochemical impedance value of membranes with different degrees of spontaneous wetting.In addition,a method of impedance test for real-time monitoring of spontaneous wetting was designed.During the experiment,the timeliness and continuity of this method are confirmed with exact judgment under different conditions.In future work,the impedance data will be used to build model to predict the percentage of membrane wetting degree.

Preparation of hydrophobic flat sheet membranes from PVDF-HFP copolymer for enhancing the oxygen permeance in nitrogen/oxygen gas mixture

In this study, poly(vinilydene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)(PVDF-HFP) was used for preparation of hydrophobic membranes using non-solvent induced phase inversion(NIPS) technique. PVDF-HFP copolymer with concentrations of 10 wt% and 12 wt% was prepared to investigate the effect of polymer concentration on pore structure,morphology, hydrophobicity and performance of prepared membranes. Besides, the use of two coagulation baths with the effects of parameters such as coagulant time, polymer type and concentration, and the amount of nonsolvent were studied. The performance of prepared membranes was evaluated based on the permeability and selectivity of oxygen and nitrogen from a gas mixture of nitrogen/oxygen under operating conditions of feed flow rate(1–5 L·min-1), inlet pressure to membrane module(0.1–0.5 MPa) and temperatures between 25 and 45 °C. The results showed that the use of two coagulation baths with different compositions of distillated water and isopropanol,coagulant time, polymer type and concentration, and the amount of non-solvent additive have the most effect on pore structure, morphology, thickness, roughness and crystallinity of fabricated membranes. Porosity ranges for the three fabricated membranes were determined, where the maximum porosity was 73.889% and the minimum value was 56.837%. Also, the maximum and minimum average thicknesses of membrane were 320.85 μm and115 μm. Besides, the values of 4.7504 × 10-7 mol· m-2· s-1· Pa-1, 0.525 and 902.126 nm were achieved for maximum oxygen permeance, O2/N2 selectivity and roughness, respectively.

Severe prelenticular membrane formation on the surface of a hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens after cataract surgery in an eye with an Ahmed valve implant

【正】Dear Sir,Iam Yong-Sun Ahn,from the Department of Ophthalmology of St.Vincent Hospital of Suwon,Kyungki-do,South Korea.Cataracts are a common problem in eyes with a glaucoma drainage device(GDD),because tube shunt surgery increases the incidence and progression of cataracts[1].An Ahmed valve,the most commonly inserted GDD,is composed of a silicone tube connected to a flat plate sewn to the sclera,and aqueous humor flows from the

STUDY ON A HYDROPHOBIC-HYDROPHILIC GRADIENT ROD

A hydrophobic-hydrophilic gradient rod with a length of 40 mm and a diameter of 3 mm was prepared by heating a polymethylsilsesquioxane rod in a cylindrical stove with temperature gradient. The rod was thus pyrolyzed under a temperature gradient condition. The organic end of the gradient rod appears hydrophobic with a contact angle of 109.9° while the other end is hydrophilic with a contact angle of 62.4°. The gradient chemical structure and the gradient microstructure along the rod were characterized by FTIR and SEM, respectively.

A Metal-organic Framework with Alternately Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Layers Based on Tetrazole Derivative:Synthesis,Structure and Luminescent Property

A new metal-organic framework based on ethyl 1H-tetrazole-5-acetate （Hetza）, [Ag4（etza）4] （1）, has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, thermal gravimetric and X-ray structural analysis. Crystal data for the title complex are as follows： triclinic system, space group P1 with a = 11.0771（6）, b = 11.6636（6）, c = 13.2925（8）, a = 102.3710（10）, β =103.3810（10）, γ = 90.0890（10）°, V = 1629.60（16） A3, Mr = 1052.06, Z = 2, F（000） = 1024, Dc = 2.144 g/cm3, μ（MoKa） = 2.438 mm^-1, the final R = 0.0538 and wR = 0.1475 （I 〉 2σ（I））. Complex 1 adopts the （4.82） topological network and the alternately hydrophilic-hydrophilic and hydropho- bic-hydrophobic arrangements. The luminescent properties of complex 1 and the free Hetza ligand have been studied in the solid states.