Browsing by Author "Wen, Min"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Efficient gas adsorption using superamphiphobic porous monoliths as the under-liquid gas-conductive circuits
    (American Chemical Society, 2019-06-14) Wen, Min; Peng, Cheng; Yao, Ming; Wang, Chao; Ming, Tingzhen; Peng, Biaoling; Huang, Fuzhi; Zhong, Jie; Cheng, Yi-Bing; Zhang, Qi
    The gas–liquid membrane contactor forms a gas–solid–liquid interface and has a high potential for the applications in gas adsorption, catalysis, energy exchange, and so on. Porous superhydrophobic membranes show a great gas separation/adsorption ability. However, the complicated device architecture and the durability issue are normally concerned especially for the continuous circulation of gas and liquid. In this work, we present a free-standing gas-conductive circuit simply formed by connecting the superamphiphobic porous monoliths (SAPMs) to achieve an efficient under-liquid gas adsorption. The porous worm-like SAPM is prepared with low-temperature expandable graphite and polyvinylidenefluoride, exhibiting superamphiphobicity and superaerophilicity after fluoridation. The as-made SAPM circuits can be used as a reliable gas conductor under numerous liquids, such as water, alkaline, acidic, and oily solutions. In this work, the CO2 adsorption capacities of the SAPM circuits are evaluated under NaOH and methyldiethanolamine solutions and the mass transfer rate can reach up to 9.61 mmol m–2 s–1. Moreover, the effective human blood oxygenation process is also demonstrated using SAPM circuits. Thus, the reported SAPM provides an alternative gas–liquid exchanging method and the simplified process could be of great benefit to the cost-effectively large-scale CO2 capture or gas exchanging applications.
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    Proanthocyanidins-induced horizontal arrangement poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene composites with enhanced mechanical properties
    (Wiley, 2019-03-19) Wang, Chao; Wen, Min; Guo, Le; Zhang, Boyu; Ming, Tingzhen; Huang, Fuzhi; Zhang, Qi
    A green approach is employed to prepare mechanically enhanced composites by adding noncovalently proanthocyanidin (PC)‐modified graphene (PC‐rGO) into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Ascorbic acid (AA) is used as the reducing agent, and PC is used as a dispersant to synthesize low‐defect and fully dispersed graphene. After static treatment, the PC‐rGO sheets in the composite form a horizontally arranged structure. Compared with neat PVA, the Young's modulus of the graphene‐modified composites is significantly enhanced by approximately 79.3% with incorporation of 0.9 wt% PC‐rGO. The composites incorporated with GO or AA‐rGO (without PC) have randomly distributed GO structures and apparent rGO agglomeration, resulting in a weaker mechanical property. The dispersibility, degree of defects, distribution state of graphene, and interactions with the polymer matrix are directly related to the final mechanical performance. This new approach to mechanically enhance graphene‐embedded PVA composites provides the possibility for large‐scale production of graphene‐reinforced composite materials.
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    Robust transparent superamphiphobic coatings on non-fabric flat substrates with inorganic adhesive titania bonded silica
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017-04-03) Wen, Min; Zhong, Jie; Shuangjie, Zhao; Bu, Tongle; Guo, Le; Ku, Zhiliang; Peng, Yong; Huang, Fuzhi; Cheng, Yi-Bing; Zhang, Qi
    The technological implementation of superamphiphobic surfaces has been largely hindered by the stability issues caused by surface abrasion, corrosion, contamination, etc. Robustness still remains the major challenge for a well-performing superamphiphobic coating. In this study, the simple route of spraying inks containing pre-designed silica, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and titanium diisopropoxide bis-2,4-pentanedionate (TAA) is presented to prepare micro–nanostructure films. The mechanical properties of the films are significantly strengthened by titania after the pyrogenic decomposition of TAA, and the films are able to withstand a standard 2H pencil scratching and sand flow impact. The as-made films exhibit excellent super-repellency to various liquids after treatment with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PFTS). The static contact angles (SCAs) for water (surface tension 72.1 mN m−1) and dodecane (surface tension 25.3 mN m−1) can reach 166° ± 3° and 153° ± 3°, respectively. On controlling the thickness of the films, the optical transmittance of the films (400 nm thick) can come close to that of glass. Moreover, efficient photocatalytic decomposition of an organic substance attached on the surfaces is demonstrated; this decomposition enables the recovery of the superamphiphobic property of the contaminated films. Thus, the unique properties of robustness, transparency and self-healing, etc., combined with the relatively low cost fabrication, make these superamphiphobic coatings promising in various applications.
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    The self-assembling growth of copper nanowires for transparent electrodes
    (Springer, 2019-02-18) Wu, Junqing; Guo, Le; Wen, Min; Bu, Tongle; Zhou, Peng; Zhong, Jie; Huang, Fuzhi; Zhang, Qi
    Long (15 - 40 μm), thin (diameter of 20 ± 5 nm), and well-dispersed CuNWs Cu nanowires were prepared. The high-resolution TEM and selected area electron diffraction showed that the CuNWs were single-crystalline. To investigate the growth mechanism, we examined the microstructure of these CuNWs at different reaction time. It was found that the CuNWs were actually formed through the self-assembling of Cu nanoparticles along the [110] direction. The transparent electrodes fabricated using the CuNWs achieved a high transparency of 76 % at 31±5 Ω/□.
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    Sequentially reinforced additive coating for transparent and durable superhydrophobic glass
    (American Chemical Society, 2018-09-05) Zhao, Shuangjie; Zhao, Juan; Wen, Min; Yao, Ming; Wang, Fengjue; Huang, Fuzhi; Zhang, Qi; Cheng, Yi-Bing; Zhong, Jie
    Now that there are various routes to prepare superhydrophobic surfaces for self-cleaning, anti-icing, liquid collecting, etc., attentions are moving toward low-cost upscaling of routes and increasing the reliability for actual applications. However, the required micro–nano structures for superhydrophobicity are light scattering and very vulnerable to abrasion. This intrinsically conflicts with the transparency and durability of superhydrophobic glass, which are the major barriers for its commercialization. In this study, we present a novel sequentially reinforced additive coating (SRAC) process to realize robust and transparent micro–nano structured film with tough intergranular sintering. A benign aqueous-based ink with poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA) and silica species is carefully designed and sprayed on glass to enable self-phase separation and morphology construction. The coatings reach the static contact angle (SCA) for water over 166° and withstand a 6H pencil scratching, the cross-cut test, and sand abrasion. Moreover, we also performed a 90 day outdoor performance test and the glass maintained superhydrophobicity with an SCA of 154°. These results provide a low-cost waterborne ink formula, and the high throughput and upscalable SRAC process could be a convenient technology for the fabrication of large area, robust superhydrophobic coatings.