Antimicrobial Janus Filters that Break Oil-in-Water Emulsions and Separate Oil

• DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.0c01091
• Publication Date: 2020-11-25T08:47:27Z
• Authors: Morgan J. Lehtinen; Guojun Liu; Jiafu Wu; A. R. Ola Pasternak
• Keywords: Side chain; Oil droplet

Separation of oil from emulsions is industrially important. Existing Janus filters that bear a de-emulsifier on one surface and hydrophobic polymer the opposite side can break oil-in-water selectively separate coalesced oil. This paper reports filter possesses additional function being antimicrobial. prepared by aero-spraying cotton fabric with solution copolymer containing poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) soaking other in dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA). The then baked an oven to cross-link polymers around fibers. DMAEMA-bearing further reacted benzyl bromide produce quaternized DMAEMA. latter coalesces droplets stabilized ionic surfactant most likely via two mechanisms: fusion different charged fibers overlapping adsorbed adsorption occurs probably due displacing molecules droplet surfaces surfactant-like DMAEMA units. drawn PDMS repels water gets separated emulsion. Moreover, quaternary amine antimicrobial, killing model bacterium E. coli under various conditions, impedes contamination microorganisms. These trifunctional performance improvement may find practical applications.