Novel superhydrophobic material was synthesized by introducing hydrophobic branches of laurate on grassy cabbage like the architecture of copper oxide (gcCuO) on the surface of the stainless steel mesh (SSM). The novel grassy cabbage-like 3D copper oxide surface on SSM was attained by the controlled oxidation of the Cu electroplated SSM. The surface displayed a high water repellency as the mesh was heavily functionalized with hydrophobic branches of lauric acid (LA). The branches provided an exceptionally high water contact angle of 166.1<sup>o</sup> after interact with the gcCuO. The successful integration of the lauric acid and the gcCuO-SSM was described and confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed the uniform growth of a grassy cabbage like the architecture of copper oxide uniformly on the entire surface of the SSM. The separation efficiency of &gt;99% was found for the separation of hexane, heptane, nonane, and decane from the water. The surface of the LA-gcCuO-SSM completely rejected water from the oil/water emulsions. The LA-gcCuO-SSM can be a valuable addition to oil/water separation meshes due to its low cost, controlled morphology, and high efficiency. Water, being polar, was rejected by the superhydrophobic mesh. The oil and water separation mechanism is explained in scheme 1 where the organic compound permeated through the mesh under the force of gravity, while the water was repelled. The surface controlled LA-gcCuO-SSM is a valuable addition due to its superhydrophobic characteristics and its strong water repellency. This novel mesh has the potential to remove oil contaminants from produced water, which will help to provide an opportunity to recover useful components in addition to reduce the environmental impact and reuse produced water in several applications such as fracturing.

Novel coated mesh for oil removal from produced water

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.