Recent Development of Advanced Materials with Special

Wettability for Selective Oil/Water Separation

The increasing number of oil spill accidents have a catastrophic

impact on our aquatic environment. Recently, special wettable

materials used for the oil/water separation have received

signifi cant research attention. Due to their opposing affi nities

towards water and oil, i.e., hydrophobic and oleophilic, or

hydrophilic and oleophobic, such materials can be used

to remove only one phase from the oil/water mixture, and

simultaneously repel the other phase, thus achieving selective oil/

water separation. Moreover, the synergistic effect between the

surface chemistry and surface architecture can further promote

the superwetting behavior, resulting in the improved separation

effi ciency. Here, recently developed materials with special

wettability for selective oil/water separation are summarized and

discussed. These materials can be categorized based on their

oil/water separating mechanisms, i.e., fi ltration and absorption.

In each section, representative studies will be highlighted, with

emphasis on the materials wetting properties and innovative

aspects. Finally, challenges and future research directions in this

emerging and promising research fi eld will be briefl y described.

Recent Development of Advanced Materials with Special.pdf