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Guest Editor Prof. Chif-Feng Wang Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan Website \| E-Mail Interests: Superwetting Materials; Polymeric Composites; Oil/Water separation; Surface Modification; Surface Free Energy
Guest Editor Prof. Wei-Song Hung Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan Website \| E-Mail Interests: Membrane; Graphene; Positron; Surface Modification; Liquid Separation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your work to a Special Issue on "Preparations and Applications of Superwetting Polymeric Composites ". The performance of a polymer material is often dictated by its surface properties, such as its wettability. The wettability of a surface is determined by a combination of its chemical properties and topographical microstructures. Over the past 15 years, bioinspired polymeric composites possessing superwetting properties (superhydrophobicity, superhydrophilicity, superoleophobicity, and superoleophilicity) have attracted a large amount of commercial and academic attention due to their wide range of applications, such as waterproofing, anti-fogging, antifouling, anti-icing, fluidic drag reduction, anti-corrosion, oil/water separation, and functional textiles. Although superwetting polymeric composites are already used in a variety of products today, there is still a need to development new materials to improve their performance and enhance applications.

In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Superhydrophobic polymeric composites.
Superamphiphobic polymeric composites.
Polymeric composites with anisotropic or patterned wettabilities.
Polymeric composites with switchable wettability.
Superhydrophilic polymeric composites.
Slippery liquid-infused porous polymeric composites.
Functional textiles with superwetting properties.

Prof. Chif-Feng Wang
Prof. Wei-Song Hung
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Superhydrophobic
Superhydrophilic
Superoleophobic
Superoleophilic
Slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Facile Fabrication of Durable Superhydrophobic Films from Carbon Nanotube/Main-Chain Type Polybenzoxazine Composites

by Chih-Feng Wang, Wen-Ning Wang, Ching-Hsuan Lin, Kuo-Jung Lee, Chien-Chieh Hu and Juin-Yih Lai

Polymers 2019, 11(7), 1183; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071183

Received: 27 June 2019 / Revised: 10 July 2019 / Accepted: 13 July 2019 / Published: 14 July 2019

PDF Full-text (3320 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text | Supplementary Files

Abstract

Superhydrophobic materials have immense applications in the fields of industry and research. However, their durability is still a cause for concern. A facile method for preparing durable superhydrophobic films from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the main-chain type polybenzoxazine precursors is reported herein. We used probe ultrasonicator to prepare CNT/polybenzoxazine coatings. Compared with the general sonicating dispersion process, the dispersion time was greatly reduced from a few hours to 5 minutes and the prepared suspension exhibited film-forming characteristics well. The CNT/polybenzoxazine films, which do not contain any fluorinated compounds, exhibit remarkable durability against thermal treatment, organic solvents, corrosive liquids, and sandpaper abrasion, while retaining their superhydrophobicity. Furthermore, these CNT/polybenzoxazine films also showed durable superhydrophobicity after ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 100 h. This CNT/polybenzoxazine film can be readily used for practical applications to make durable superhydrophobic coatings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superwetting Polymeric Composites)

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Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Facile Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Copper- Foam and Electrospinning Polystyrene Fiber for Combinational Oil–Water Separation

by Yu-Ping Zhang, Jing-Hua Yang, Ling-Li Li, Cheng-Xing Cui, Ying Li, Shan-Qin Liu, Xiao-Mao Zhou and Ling-Bo Qu

Polymers 2019, 11(1), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11010097

Received: 25 November 2018 / Revised: 2 January 2019 / Accepted: 3 January 2019 / Published: 8 January 2019

Cited by 4 | PDF Full-text (4833 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text | Supplementary Files

Abstract

Membrane-based metal substrates with special surface wettability have been applied widely for oil/water separation. In this work, a series of copper foams with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity were chemically etched using 10 mg mL−1 FeCl3/HCl solution with consequent ultrasonication, followed by the subsequent modification of four sulfhydryl compounds. A water contact angle of 158° and a sliding angle lower than 5° were achieved for the copper foam modified using 10 mM n-octadecanethiol solution in ethanol. In addition, the interaction mechanism was initially investigated, indicating the coordination between copper atoms with vacant orbital and sulfur atoms with lone pair electrons. In addition, the polymeric fibers were electrospun through the dissolution of polystyrene in a good solvent of chlorobenzene, and a nonsolvent of dimethyl sulfoxide. Oil absorption and collection over the water surface were carried out by the miniature boat made out of copper foam, a string bag of as-spun PS fibers with high oil absorption capacity, or the porous boat embedded with the as-spun fibers, respectively. The findings might provide a simple and practical combinational method for the solution of oil spill. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Superwetting Polymeric Composites)

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