Article

pubs.acs.org/IECR

A Facile Electrodeposition Process for the Fabrication of

Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic Copper Mesh for Efficient
Oil−Water Separation
Yan Liu,†,‡ Kaiteng Zhang,† Wenguang Yao,† Chengchun Zhang,*,† Zhiwu Han,† and Luquan Ren†
†
Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
‡
State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China

ABSTRACT: A superhydrophobic and superoleophilic copper mesh with excellent oil−water separation efficiency was
successfully fabricated via electrodeposition and then surface modification with lauric acid. The surface morphologies, chemical
composition, and wettability were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy
(AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and water contact angle
(WCA) measurements. It was found that the as-prepared surface is both superhydrophobic and superoleophilic, with static WCA
values as high as 155.5° ± 3° and an oil contact angle (OCA) of 0°. Furthermore, the as-prepared surface exhibited excellent oil−
water separation efficiency including petroleum, toluene, hexane, gasoline and diesel, even after being recycled 10 times. In
addition, the as-prepared copper mesh shows self-cleaning character with water and chemical stability. This study provides a
facile, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly route to fabricate large-scale and excellent oil−water separation surface with high
separation efficiency for a great number of potential applications.

1. INTRODUCTION In the past several years, numerous methods have been

In the past few years, with the increase of oil spill accidents and
industrial oily wastewater, oil−water separation has become a
worldwide challenge and has aroused much attention.1−4 To
resolve these water pollution issues, many approaches have
been used for the treatment of oil−water pollution, including
filtration, oil skimmers, centrifugal machine, precipitation tanks,
magnetic separations, flotation technologies, oil-absorbing
materials, and combustion.5−11 However, most of the methods
involve harsh conditions, such as expensive equipment,
complex devices, complicated processing steps, high processing
cost, long processing time, and so on. Taking all factors into
account, separation treatment stands out from the rest as a
simple, universal, scalable approach for valid removal of oil
from water.
In addition, surfaces with superhydrophobic and super-
oleophilic wettability have triggered unprecedented research
excitement in the field of filtration.12−15 Many plants and
insects exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity, such as lotus
leaves, rose petals, marigold petals, water striders, butterfly
wings, rice leaves, mosquito eyes, and so on. Taking inspiration
from nature, superhydrophobic surfaces are fabricated by
simulating typical structures of plant surface and considering
chemical composition simultaneously.16−20 Also, materials with
special wettability and micro-nanoscale structures have
attracted increasing attention for oil−water separation. This
filtration process needs excellent wettability materials, which are
both superhydrophobic (water contact angle (WCA) of >150°)
and superoleophilic (oil contact angle (OCA) of <5°). Oil can
selectively penetrate through the mesh while water is blocked.
Designing and fabricating coatings with special wettability
would be a facile and effective way to solve the problem of oil−
water separation.21−23
reported for the manufacture of the superhydrophobic surface
for oil−water separation on metal meshes such as chemical
etching,24 electro-spinning,25,26 layer by layer,27,28 self-assem-
bly,29,30 sol−gel method,31−36 ARGET-ATRP,37 zeolite-coated
method,38 self-assembly of block co-polymers,39 chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) method,40−42 electrodeposition, and so
on.43,44 Meanwhile, many scholars have focused on the research
of underwater superoleophobic surface. Dudchenko et al.45
have demonstrated a membrane-based and fouling-free oil/
water separation method that couples carbon nanotube
poly(vinyl alcohol) underwater superoleophobic ultrafiltration
membranes with magnetic Pickering emulsions. Dunderdale et
al.46 highlighted the pH-responsive superoleophobicity of
pDMAEMA brush surfaces, which gives excellent oil drop
mobility and low adhesion underwater.
However, to better resolve oil−water separation in industry,
the method of facile and large-scale preparation must be
developed.
Copper mesh is widely used for the separation of oil and
water, because of its porous structure, which is composed of
microfibers. Based on the above-mentioned discussions, we
reported a simple, highly efficient, and low-cost route to
preparing superhydrophobic copper meshes. In this research,
copper meshes with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic
surfaces were fabricated by electrodeposition and then modified
with lauric acid. The electrodeposition process takes place at
atmospheric pressure, using a solution of 0.2 M sulfuric acid
and 0.15 M copper sulfate that were cured under ambient
Received: September 21, 2015
Revised: February 5, 2016
Accepted: February 21, 2016
Published: February 22, 2016

© 2016 American Chemical Society 2704 DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.5b03503

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2016, 55, 2704−2712
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Figure 1. SEM images of newly prepared copper mesh samples, showing the surface morphology of the copper mesh at different electrodeposition
times in an aqueous solution of 0.2 M sulfuric acid and 0.15 M copper sulfate: (a) 0 s, (b) 100 s, (c) 150 s, (d) 250 s, (e) 300 s, and (f) 400 s. The
insets show magnified images of the corresponding surfaces.
conditions. The superhydrophobic copper meshes can be easily
combined with an independent device, which acts as a filter,
forming a barrier that allows oils to pass through while repelling
water.
2. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
2.1. Materials. The 40 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm copper plate
and copper mesh (120, 150, and 180 mesh woven from 0.08,
0.07, and 0.05 mm diameter wire, respectively) were obtained
from Hebei Shijiazhuang Yuanpeng Metal Manufacturing
Works. The meshes had pore diameters of 124, 100, and 80
μm, respectively. Lauric acid (C12H24O2, 97.5%, Tianjin
Guangfu Fine Chemical Research Reagent Institute), copper
sulfate (CuSO4, 99%, Tianjin Zhiyuan Chemical Reagent
Institute). All other chemicals were purchased from Beijing
Chemical Works, were of the highest commercially available
grade, and were used without further purification. This includes
hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ethanol, chloroform, Methylene
Blue, toluene, petroleum ether, and hexane.
2.2. Sample Preparation. Copper plate and meshes were
ultrasonically rinsed for 5 min in a solution of diluted
hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ethanol, and distilled water to
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remove the oxide film and organic matter on the surface of the
copper mesh, respectively. The obtained mesh then was used as
the cathode and a copper plate was used as the anode. The
reaction solution was contained 0.2 M sulfuric acid and 0.15 M
copper sulfate. Finally a direct current (DC) voltage of 4.0 V
was applied to the two electrodes for different times (100, 150,
200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 s) with a distance of 3 cm. At the
end of the experiment, the sample was washed with a sufficient
amount of distilled water. The resulting copper meshes then
were dried in a vacuum oven at 60 °C for 20 min.
2.3. Surface Modification. The prepared copper meshes
were immersed in a 1.5 × 10−3 M ethanol solution of lauric acid
and for 12 h under ambient conditions. The −COOH groups
can be chemically adsorbed onto the native oxide surface of
copper clusters and the surface-active molecules form a self-
assembled monolayer.39,40 The resulting copper meshes then
were dried in a vacuum oven at 60 °C for 10 min.
2.4. Sample Characterization. The water/oil contact
angle (WCA/OCA) values were measured by using a contact
angle meter (Model OCA 20, Dataphysics, Germany) at room
temperature. Water droplets (3 μL) were carefully dropped
onto the surfaces, and the average static contact angle (CA)
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value was obtained by measuring five different positions of each
surface. The surface morphologies of as-prepared samples were
examined via field-emission scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) (Model EVO 18, Zeiss) and atomic force microscopy
(AFM) (Model Dimension Icom, Bruker). The chemical
composition of the samples was characterized using an X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) system (Model XR50,
SPECS, Japan) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR)
spectrophotometer (JASCO, Japan). Oil concentrations were
measured by an automatic infrared oil analyzer (Model JLBG-
158, Xi’an Yima Opto-Electrical Technology Co., Ltd., China).
2.5. Oil−Water Separation Apparatus. The device
consists of two quartz tubes, which are 100 mm and 150 mm
in length, respectively, and 30 mm in diameter. The as-prepared
copper mesh was fastened between the quartz flange fixtures by
four screws, and the device was positioned an a tilt angle of
∼20°. The oil/water mixture was poured onto the mesh. The
separation was achieved driven by gravity.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Surface Morphology. The wettability of solid surfaces
is strongly dependent on both the geometrical structure and the
chemical composition.47 Figures 1a−e show SEM images of the
woven copper mesh formed using ∼100-μm-diameter wires as
substrates. The typical image of a copper mesh substrate that
has been knitted by copper wires with a pore diameter of ∼100
μm is shown in Figure 1a, which indicates that the pristine
mesh has a smooth surface. The morphology of the copper
mesh was greatly influenced by the electrodeposition time.
Figure 1b shows the SEM image of the copper mesh with an
electrodeposition time at 100 s. It can be clearly seen that the
surface was relatively smooth, with only some small spherical
particles. No obvious submicrometer and nanoscale particles
are observed in the magnified images. As shown in Figure 1c, as
the electrodeposition time increased to 150 s, the microscale
particles on the surface of the copper mesh became rougher,
and the spherical particles were increased. Figure 1d shows the
SEM image of the copper mesh after an electrodeposition time
at 250 s, spherical particles several hundred nanometers in size
were uniformly dispersed on the surface of the wires. It can be
seen that the pristine mesh wires has been completely covered
by circular particles. There is a large amount of micro-nanoscale
circular particles, which can capture a large amount of air.
Therefore, it provides the geometric conditions for the
formation of hydrophobicity. However, as the time increases
to 300 s (Figure 1e), the size of the particles was much larger
than that observed at 250 s, and the rough micro-nanoscale
structure, which was slightly damaged because of spherical
submicrometer structure, is replaced by a larger crystal
structure with diameters of 5−10 μm. Longer electrodeposition
times encouraged the formation of larger surface features that,
in some locations, resembled broccoli structures. It can be seen
from Figure 1f that these broccoli structures grew orthogonally
out of the mesh wire walls. These findings show that an
increase in electrodeposition time leads to a change in
morphology, resulting in a transition of the wetting state
from hydrophobic to superhydrophobic. The microsized
spherical particles, in combination with the nanoscale granular
protuberance, endowed a hierarchical composite structure to
the mesh that possessed superhydrophobic behaviors. Such
micro-nanoscale hierarchical structures can help support water
droplets and are necessary for superhydrophobic surfaces. From
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the surface morphology of the copper meshes, we deduce that
the ideal electrodeposition time is 250 s.
Furthermore, the three-dimensional (3-D) morphology of
the as-prepared copper mesh has been characterized by AFM.
Figure 2 shows the AFM images and surface roughness values
Figure 2. (a) SEM image of the as-prepared copper mesh sample; (b)
two-dimensional (2-D) AFM image of the area bounded by the red
square in panel (a); (c) three-dimensional (3-D) AFM image of the
area bounded by the red square in panel (a); and (d) fluctuation of the
height for the red line shown in panel (b).
of the copper-coated mesh. Taking into account the fact that
the copper wire is a curved surface, we can only roughly
calculate the root-mean-square surface roughness (RMS). The
height of the micro-nanoparticles is concentrated in the range
of 0−1.1 μm. The surface roughness of the coating is 993 nm
(RMS value).
3.2. Chemical Characterization. XPS is used to test the
chemical composition of the thin film of the as-prepared
surfaces modified after electrodeposition. Figure 3 shows the
XPS spectrum of the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface
after modification with lauric acid. It reveals the presence of
carbon, oxygen, and copper on the as-prepared surfaces. One
can see the strong peak of C 1s at 284.78 eV and O 1s at 531.2
eV. Figure 3c presents the Cu 2p XPS spectrum of the as-
prepared copper mesh surface. This region includes one
highlight peak at 933.5 eV; therefore, elemental copper is
expected to exist on the as-prepared mesh surface after
electrodeposition. Figures 3b and 3d reveal the presence of
carbon and oxygen on the as-prepared surfaces. One can see
the strong peak of C 1s at 284.78 eV and O 1s at 531.2 eV.
Compared to the untreated copper mesh, the contents of
elemental carbon and oxygen were obviously increased on the
as-prepared surfaces, which were treated with lauric acid, which
indicated that the as-prepared coating on the as-prepared
copper mesh surface was copper, and the surface was
successfully modified with lauric acid.
The sample was modified to reduce the surface energy after
the electrodeposition of copper. In order to confirm the
presence of lauric acid on the coated surface of the copper
mesh, FT-IR spectra was used. Figure 4 shows FT-IR spectra of
the electrodeposition mesh before and after being modified by
lauric acid. Compared to the sample before modification, many
absorption bands are detected on modified sample surface,
which indicates that the copper mesh surface has been
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Figure 3. XPS spectra of copper mesh fabricated by electrodeposition and then surface modification with lauric acid coatings.
Figure 4. FT-IR spectra of the copper mesh treated by electro-
deposition only (black trace) and copper mesh treated by electro-
deposition then modified by lauric acid (red trace).
successfully modified. The FT-IR spectrum exhibits typical
absorption features of the coupled −COO− stretching
vibrations at 1701 cm−1, CH3− stretching vibrations at 2920
cm−1, and CH2 stretching vibrations at 2855 cm−1. It is known
that the CH3 group had a surface energy of 24 mJ/m2 and the
CH2 group had a surface energy of 31 mJ/m2, both of which
were widely used to reduce the free energy. The FT-IR spectra
indicated that the lauric acid was bound to the copper mesh
surfaces.
3.3. Surface Wettability. 3.3.1. Formation of Super-
hydrophobicity. A combination of SEM, XPS, and FT-IR
characterizations shows that the micro-nanoscale hierarchical
structures were created and that low-surface-energy materials
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were successfully prepared on the surface of copper mesh
through this method. It was expected that the micro-nanoscale
hierarchical composite structure and chemical component
made the as-prepared mesh possess superhydrophobicity, and
the surface wettability was evaluated by CA measurement.
Figure 5a shows that the water contact angle (WCA) of the
pristine copper mesh was 79°. For the copper mesh after an
electrodeposition time of 250 s only and the sample modified
by lauric acid only, the WCAs were measured to be 118° and
120°, respectively, as shown in Figures 5b and 5c. In contrast,
an oil droplet (toluene) with a low surface tension quickly
spreads on the surface and permeates through it, exhibiting a
highly oleophilic property. Figure 5d shows the image of a
water droplet (3 μL) on the as-prepared copper mesh. Its WCA
approaches 155.5° ± 3°, indicating that the surface has
superhydrophobicity.
The resulting meshes transitioned to a dull red color from
their pristine purplish-red color and showed superhydrophi-
licity, as shown in Figure 6a. When the as-prepared super-
hydrophobic copper mesh and original hydrophilic copper
mesh were immersed in water, a plastron (air pockets) that was
indicative of a robust Cassie−Baxter state was formed on the
as-prepared mesh surface only. The submerged as-prepared
copper mesh looked like a silver mirror when viewed at a
glancing angle, as shown in Figure 6b. To further illustrate that
the as-prepared mesh has better reflectance, two samples were
immersed in water again. The reflectance of these two samples
was measured in the visible light range. As shown in Figure 6c,
the as-prepared sample had a reflectance of ∼40%. However,
the original sample had a reflectance of ∼8%, because of the
reflectance of light at the air layer trapped on the surface. This
trapped air can effectively prevent wetting on the as-prepared
copper mesh surface under water. After several minutes of
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Figure 5. Surface wettability of the pristine and as-prepared mesh: (a)
the photograph of water droplet on the surface of pristine copper
mesh; (b) the photograph of water droplet on the surface of copper
mesh after 250 s of deposition only; (c) the photograph of water
droplet on the surface of copper mesh modified by lauric acid only;
and (d) the photograph of water droplet on the surface of as-prepared
copper mesh.
immersion testing, the material surfaces were completely dry
and still displayed a large CA (>150°) with water droplets.
3.3.2. Effect of the Electrodeposition Time on Wettability.
The fabrication of nanostructures on a copper mesh by
electrodeposition is an inexpensive and facile technique;
however, this method always needs to accurately control the
deposition time and solution concentration, which play
important roles in crystal growth. Because the roughness and
crystallinity are positively related. Thus, we explored the effect
of different electrodeposition times on wettability. The samples
were prepared under 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 s of
deposition time. Figure 7a shows the relationship between
electrodeposition times and static CAs on the as-prepared
surface. The CA value reached 134° after a deposition time of
100 s. With the time was extended to 250 s, the CA value
reached 155.5° ± 3° and the sliding angle reached 13° ± 4°.
Meanwhile, the advancing and receding angles shown in Figure
7b were measured, still showing very good hydrophobic
Figure 6. (a) Macroscopic images of the pristine and as-prepared samples; (b) mirror-like phenomenon can be observed on the resulting
superhydrophobic mesh submerged in water. (c) reflectance of the original mesh (red trace) and as-prepared superhydrophobic copper mesh (black
trace).
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property. Thus, the as-prepared copper mesh possessed
superhydrophobic with low adhesion character. According to
the test results, we deduce that the ideal electrodeposition time
is 250 s.
In addition, we find that the pore size is also important,
because different pore sizes can result in different wetting
performances. Therefore, we chose the above-mentioned 150
mesh as a contrast test and carried out another two groups of
experiments to investigate the relationship between pore size
and wetting performance. Figure 7 displays the WCAs as a
function of the electrodeposition time of the electrochemical
deposition (all of three copper meshes were obtained with the
same immersion time and were modified with the same
concentration solution of the lauric acid). As shown in Figure 8,
for the maximum pore size (120 mesh) of copper mesh, an
increase in plating time results in a gradual increase in CA
values. However, the hydrophilic state remained (WCA < 65°)
after an electroplating time of 400 s. The resulting electro-
deposition is deposited on the copper wirethe larger the pore
size, the smaller the effective deposition area will beso a large
pore size is not conducive to building superhydrophobic micro-
nanostructures. To get the superhydrophobic state, a longer
plating time may be required. In contrast, for the copper mesh
(180 mesh) with a minimum pore size, an opposite trend in CA
is observed: an increase in plating time results in a gradual
decrease in CA values. This is because a smaller aperture will
provide better microscale roughness for the copper mesh,
which is an essential necessity to obtain the superhydropho-
bicity. Compared with copper mesh (180 mesh) with a pore
size of 80 μm, the copper mesh (150 mesh) with a pore size of
100 μm had a larger pore size. Thus, copper mesh with a larger
pore size is more favorable for the permeation of water. Taking
into account the properties of velocity, plating time, and
wetting, we can determine that the optimal pore size is ∼100
μm.
3.4. Self-Cleaning Effect. As a comparison, self-cleaning
tests were carried out with two types of copper mesh, including
pristine and as-prepared, as shown in Figure 9. Here, the
graphite is used to represent the conventional pollutant.
Removal of fine graphite powder on the superhydrophobic
surface is documented in the above images (see Figures 9a−c).
For graphite particles, excellent self-cleaning properties were
observed. The graphite particles are wetted by the water and
imbibed into the droplet as it rolls off the surface. Super-
hydrophobicity is essential for such self-cleaning particles.
When the pristine copper mesh was used, water droplets
adhered to the surface and could neither imbibe the particles
nor roll off the surface, as shown in Figure 9b. Thus, no self-
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Figure 7. (a) Contact angles and (b) sliding angles of the different electrodeposition time on simple surfaces for 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and
400 s after modification by lauric acid.

Figure 8. Influence of pore sizes of copper mesh on water contact

angle (WCA).

cleaning properties were observed on the pristine copper mesh

surface.
3.5. Chemical Stability. It is well-known that Cassie-like
wetting is temporary under water. We have explored temporal
changes to the CA value over extended periods. We put the as-
prepared sample into the water for different time periods and
then removed it and immediately measured the CA. Figure 10
shows the relationship between the soaking time and static CA.
After 2 h of soaking, the sample can keep a CA value of 140° ±
3° and has good hydrophobicity. However, after the sample was Figure 9. Demonstration of the self-cleaning effect of the resultant
superhydrophobic mesh through the removal of graphite particles
dried after a certain period of time, its original super-
from the surface using water droplets.
hydrophobicity was again restored. Therefore, the as-prepared
sample could exist stably in the water and lauric acid does not
dissolve into the water phase. 4. SEPARATION OF OIL AND WATER
In order to further illustrate the stability of samples prepared
under corrosive environment, the sample was estimated by Because of a combination of superhydrophobicity and super-
oleophilicity, the as-prepared mesh has great potential to be
measuring the static WCA values for samples that were
applied to oil−water separations. The oil−water separation
immersed in aqueous solutions for 10 min at various pH values experiment was performed as shown in Figure 12 The as-
(ranging from 1 to 14). Figure 11 shows the relationship prepared copper mesh was fixed between two quartz tubes. In
between the pH values and the static CA; the measured static order to ensure the sealing performance, there are two sealing
CA ranged from 143° ± 3° to 152° ± 2°. After immersion in rings in the junction of the two quartz tubes. Compared to
the corrosive solution, the samples still have excellent water, oil has a lower density. Therefore, the measured oil floats
hydrophobic proprities. The results indicate that the as- on the water, with no contact with the copper mesh.
prepared surface has good chemical stability in aqueous The short glass tube was replaced by a longer bent one, and
solutions of most acidic, alkali, and some aqueous salts. the device was placed at a tilt angle of ∼30°. In this experiment,
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Figure 10. Relationship between the soaking time and the static
contact angle (CA) on the as-prepared copper mesh surface.

Figure 11. Relationship between the pH values and the static CA on Figure 12. Oil−water separation device and process: (a) before mixing
the as-prepared copper mesh surface. (petroleum ether and water), (b) after mixing, (c) after separation.
Water was colored by Methylene Blue, and oil was colored by Oil Red
O.
25 mL of petroleum ether (dyed with oil red) was poured into
25 mL of water (dyed with Methylene Blue) contained in a respectively. The oil concentration were measured using an
beaker, and the petroleum ether floated on top of the aqueous automatic infrared oil analyzer. As shown in Figure 13, different
phase, because of its lower density. When the mixture of
petroleum ether and water with a total volume of 50 mL was
poured into the quartz tube, the petroleum ether penetrated the
mesh and flowed down the beaker underneath, while the water
was retained in the upper glass tube. During the oil−water
separation process, no artificial external force was employed,
indicating its easy operation and low energy costs. Note that
the ubiquitous water loss induced by the water adhesion on the
surface of glass vessels during the oil−water separation process
was not considered in the efficiency calculations.
Oil−water separation efficiency was used to quantitatively
describe the oil−water separation ability of the as-prepared
copper mesh. Because the superhydrophobic layer is robust, the
as-prepared mesh can be reused. Therefore, we investigated the
suitability of a copper mesh for the separation of other oils from
water. The recycling ability was also investigated by taking the Figure 13. Oil collection efficiency of superhydrophobic mesh capped
petroleum ether/water mixture as an example. We measured container for five oils after 10 cycles.
the separation efficiency of the as-prepared copper mesh with
different types of oil, such as petroleum, toluene, hexane,
gasoline, and diesel. The oil separation efficiency (R, expressed types of oils such as gasoline, diesel oil, petroleum, toluene, and
as a percentage) was then calculated based on the following hexane, can be separated using the above apparatus at an
equation: efficiency of more than 93%. The stability of the as-prepared
mesh differs only slightly, even after 10 cycles, indicating its
⎛ C ⎞ general suitability for various oil−water separations. After 10
R (%) = ⎜1 − P ⎟ × 100 separate experiments, the sample was rinsed with sufficient
⎝ CO ⎠
alcohol and distilled water to remove the surface of the oil, and
Herein, CO and CP are the oil concentrations in the pristine then it was dried under atmospheric conditions for 10 min.
oil−water mixture and after the separation of water, Measuring the CA again shows that the CA approached 148° ±
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3°, which indicates that the organic solvent will not damage the
structure and chemical composition of the hydrophobic surface.
There is a good combination of the laurel acid and the rough
surface; therefore, the lauric acid does not dissolve into the oil
phase.
5. CONCLUSIONS
A facile method to fabricate a copper mesh with selective
wettability has been demonstrated. Superhydrophobic and
superoleophilic meshes were fabricated by an electrodeposition
method and then modified on lauric acid coatings. The as-
prepared copper mesh surface not only exhibits super-
hydrophobicity, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 155.5°
± 3°, but also superoleophilicity with an oil contact angle
(OCA) of 0°. In addition, a series of oil/water mixtures, such as
petroleum ether/water, hexane/water, toluene/water, gasoline/
water, and diesel/water, were observed to be separated by the
mesh, with a separation efficiency of >93%; it remained high
even after 10 cycles. Furthermore, the as-prepared super-
hydrophobic copper mesh shows self-cleaning character and
chemical stability. The fabrication process is facile, inexpensive,
and environmentally friendly, and suited to large-scale
applications. Because of the excellent oil−water performance,
the as-prepared copper meshes have potential applications in
treating industrial oil−water mixtures and environmental oil
spills.
■
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Tel.: +86 431 85095760. Fax: +86 431 85095575. E-mail:
address:sdzcc@jlu.edu.cn.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Nos. 51275555, 51475200, and 51325501), Science and
Technology Development Project of Jilin Province (No.
20150519007JH).
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2712 DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.5b03503

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2016, 55, 2704−2712