Ascendant bioinspired emulsion separation materials: From the perspective of droplet movement

Emulsion separation materials have attracted intense attention due to their advantages of high separation effi-ciency, good reusability, self-healing, no secondary pollution and pollutant degradation. However, there are still some key challenges. Fortunately, biological surfaces show many unique structures and nearly perfect functions, especially the special motion behavior and mechanism of droplets, which provide advanced design ideas for emulsion separation materials. Therefore, this review highlights recent advances of the bioinspired emulsion separation materials from the perspective of droplet movement for the first time. Firstly, some typical organisms and artificial biomimetic materials with special wettability and unique structures are described in detail. Next, the fundamental models and the factors affecting the wettability are addressed. After that, the specific appli-cations of emulsion separation materials in efficient emulsion separation are systematically summarized from the perspectives of droplet interception, droplet adsorption, and droplet aggregation. Finally, we summarize the challenges and development trends of ascendant bioinspired emulsion separation materials, and it is evident that the foreseeable opportunities far outweigh the current difficulties.

Automated summary

Emulsion separation materials have advantages of high separation efficiency, reusability, self-healing, and no secondary pollution. The unique structures and droplet motion behavior of biological surfaces provide inspiration for the design of emulsion separation materials. This review highlights recent advances of bioinspired emulsion separation materials based on droplet movement, including wettability models, applications, challenges, and development trends.