Superhydrophobic sand: a hope for desert water storage and transportation projects | |
Department | 固体润滑国家重点实验室 |
Chen, Liwei1; Si YF(司一帆)1; Guo ZG(郭志光)1,2; Liu WM(刘维民)2; Guo ZG(郭志光) | |
2017 | |
Source Publication | Journal of Materials Chemistry A |
ISSN | 2050-7488 |
Volume | 5Issue:14Pages:6416-6423 |
Abstract | Sand, an abundant natural resource, is the cause behind the harsh environmental conditions of the desert, such as water shortages and sand storms. Because of the strong hydrophilicity of sand itself, water can be quickly absorbed by sand, which greatly impedes desert greening, water storage and transportation projects. In contrast to this conventional understanding of sand (i.e., superhydrophilicity), we propose the design of “superhydrophobic sand”, aimed to address issues associated with the desert environment and sand resource utilization. In our experiments, three kinds of hydrophobic sands with different surface structures and wettability properties were successfully prepared by cladding nonmetal (SiO2) and metal (Ag and Cu) inorganic materials on sand grain surfaces and then modifying them with low-surface-energy chemicals. Combining superhydrophobicity with desert sand, superhydrophobic sand (PFDS-sand@SiO2) is shown to have excellent water repellency, allowing water to stably remain and flow on such a sand surface without any wetting or permeation. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic sand demonstrates a great water-holding capacity, such that a sand layer with a thickness of 2 cm can sustain a water column height of 35 cm. Very significantly, PFDS-sand@SiO2 exhibits extremely high thermal stability up to 400 °C when used for water storage. This result is unprecedented and sufficient for facing the high-temperature conditions of the desert environment and some others. In addition to reliable water storage, such superhydrophobic sand also demonstrates a great anti-flow-dragging effect during water transportation, whereby a water droplet can smoothly and quickly roll down a simulated sand channel (13 cm length) within 0.3 s (∼0.45 m s−1). All of these manifestations imply the significant potential of such “superhydrophobic sand” in its application to desert water storage and transportation. |
Subject Area | 材料科学与物理化学 |
DOI | 10.1039/c7ta00962c |
Funding Organization | the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51522510;51675513);the National 973 Project (2013CB632300) |
Indexed By | SCI |
If | 8.867 |
Language | 英语 |
Funding Project | 空间润滑材料研究组 |
compositor | 第二作者单位 |
Citation statistics | |
Document Type | 期刊论文 |
Identifier | http://ir.licp.cn/handle/362003/21631 |
Collection | 固体润滑国家重点实验室(LSL) |
Corresponding Author | Guo ZG(郭志光) |
Affiliation | 1.Hubei Univ, Minist Educ, Hubei Collaborat Innovat Ctr Adv Organ Chem Mat, Key Lab Green Preparat & Applicat Funct Mat, Wuhan 430062, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Lanzhou Inst Chem Phys, State Key Lab Solid Lubricat, Lanzhou 730000, Peoples R China |
Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Chen, Liwei,Si YF,Guo ZG,et al. Superhydrophobic sand: a hope for desert water storage and transportation projects[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A,2017,5(14):6416-6423. |
APA | Chen, Liwei,Si YF,Guo ZG,Liu WM,&郭志光.(2017).Superhydrophobic sand: a hope for desert water storage and transportation projects.Journal of Materials Chemistry A,5(14),6416-6423. |
MLA | Chen, Liwei,et al."Superhydrophobic sand: a hope for desert water storage and transportation projects".Journal of Materials Chemistry A 5.14(2017):6416-6423. |
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