Abstract
In this report, we demonstrate a novel plastic boat capable of selectively and efficiently collecting spilled oils while floating on water. The boat has macroscopic openings in its vertical and curved sidewalls. It is easily, quickly, and inexpensively fabricated using an environmentally friendly polymer via a three-dimensional printing technique. Its surface is sequentially coated with nano-ceramic coating liquid and oil, which imparts favorable hydrophobic, oleophilic, and high oil-wettability properties. Using the boat prototype, a small pump system, and an oil boom-like device, we demonstrate that spilled oils with a wide range of viscosities (2.0–1000 cSt at 25–40 °C) are rapidly collected from the surface of both pure water and seawater. Remarkably, it efficiently collects oil spills on seawater under wavy conditions, and the retrieved oil does not mix with any drop of water. Moreover, the boat can be scaled up to a large size easily and has a long-term usage. By exhibiting these characteristics, our developed boat is a prominent potential device for practical oil retrieval applications.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledged Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for providing facilities during the experiments.
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The individual contributions of authors to this work are listed as follows: Van Tron Tran: conceptualization, methodology, carrying out the experiments and collecting the data, writing of the paper—review, and editing; Tan Canh Nguyen: conceived and design of the devices, drawing, carrying out the experiments and collecting the data; Thanh Tan Nguyen: carrying out the experiments and collecting the data; Hoai Nam Nguyen: carrying out the experiments and collecting the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Tran, V.T., Nguyen, T.C., Nguyen, T.T. et al. Environmentally Friendly Plastic Boats – A Facile Strategy for Cleaning Oil Spills on Water with Excellent Efficiency. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 68848–68862 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26978-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26978-3