Springtail-inspired omniphobic slippery membrane with nano-concave re-entrant structures for membrane distillation

Jiaxin Guo, Mengnan Jiang, Xiaolu Li, Muhammad Usman Farid, Bhaskar Jyoti Deka, Baoping Zhang, Jiawei Sun, Zuankai Wang, Chunhai Yi, Pak Wai Wong, Sanghyun Jeong, Boram Gu and Alicia Kyoungjin An ()
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Jiaxin Guo: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Mengnan Jiang: Dalian University of Technology
Xiaolu Li: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon
Muhammad Usman Farid: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon
Bhaskar Jyoti Deka: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Baoping Zhang: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon
Jiawei Sun: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon
Zuankai Wang: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon
Chunhai Yi: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Pak Wai Wong: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon
Sanghyun Jeong: Pusan National University
Boram Gu: Chonnam National University
Alicia Kyoungjin An: City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Omniphobic membranes, due to their exceptional properties, have drawn significant attention for overcoming the bottleneck in membrane distillation (MD) technology. This study demonstrates an innovative method for fabricating an omniphobic membrane that is simple and facile compared to other methods such as wet/dry etching and photolithography. The surface morphology of springtails was imitated using electrospraying technique to coat a polyvinylidene fluoride substrate with concave-shaped polystyrene beads that were successfully developed by controlling the electrical traction (voltage) and air resistance (humidity). Then, the lipid coating of springtail surfaces was mimicked by dip-coating the membrane in a low-toxicity short-chain perfluoropolyether lubricant. The concave structure’s tiny air pockets increased membrane hydrophobicity significantly, indicated by the fact that the first round of water bouncing took only 16.3 ms. Finally, in MD treatment of seawater containing 1.0 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, the optimized omniphobic membrane maintained a stable 99.9% salt rejection rate.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52108-9

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