Dennis Desheng Meng, MuSES Laboratory, MEEM, Michigan Technological University

Demulsification of Water-Oil Emulsion by Nano-Structured Surfaces

Demulsification of water-in-oil emulsion is an important issue in petroleum production. The current practice often relies on heavy usage of chemical demulsifiers, which are consumable, environmentally unfriendly, and prone to interfere with subsequent processes. In this project, we explore the demulsification of water-in-oil emulsion using hydrophilic nanofibres implanted on hydrophobic surfaces. The working mechanism is inspired by amphiphilic copolymers, a type of chemical demulsifiers previously proven to be effective. We have demonstrated the basic process to obtain vertically aligned nanotube on the surface and the treatment to improve the hydrophilicity of the material.

3 µm

Superhydrophilic polyester film shows anti-fogging property

Carbon nanotubes vertically aligned on substrate by a room temperature process

Original polyester film fogged by water vapor