Citation: Yan Zou, Yuting Xue, Chenxue Du, Wenyang Fu, Bin Xia, Yu He, Liang Ao, Xiaoshu Lv, Guangming Jiang. Anhydrous sodium sulfate microparticles for efficient water separation from surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2025, 36(11): 110814. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.110814 shu

Anhydrous sodium sulfate microparticles for efficient water separation from surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions

Yan Zou ^a ,
Yuting Xue ^a ,
Chenxue Du ^a ,
Wenyang Fu ^a ,
Bin Xia ^a ,
Yu He ^b ,
Liang Ao ^b ,
Xiaoshu Lv ^a ,
Guangming Jiang ^{a, *,}

a.
Engineering Research Center for Waste Oil Recovery Technology and Equipment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China
b.
Chongqing Academy of Eco-Environmental Science, Southwest Branch of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Chongqing 400700, China

jiangguangming@zju.edu.cn

Received Date: 24 August 2024
Revised Date: 10 November 2024
Accepted Date: 2 January 2025
Available Online: 2 January 2025

Figures(6)

Herein, a recrystallization approach was used to produce anhydrous sodium sulfate (ASS) microparticles, which are highly efficient and reusable for separating surfactant-stabilized water from water-in-oil emulsions. The ASS microparticles exhibit distinct morphologies and crystal structures. Remarkably, 0.1 g of ASS170 enables the separation of 10 mL of emulsion (water content: 0.1 g) with a high separation efficiency of 98.63%. A stepwise separation mechanism, including demulsification and water immobilization in the crystal lattice of ASS, is proposed. The superhydrophilicity of ASS particles enables tiny water droplets to aggregate and merge into larger droplets on their surfaces. This process facilitates the phase transition from ASS to sodium sulfate decahydrate (SSD), during which water molecules are immobilized in the expanded crystal lattice of ASS. SSD particles can be collected to regenerate ASS, retaining the high performance of the original ASS. This unique renewable feature reduces the cost of utilizing ASS and simultaneously prevents secondary pollution. Further economic evaluation reveals that it only costs 66.51 USD/m³ to purify emulsion with a water content of 10 g/L, significantly lower than previously reported materials. Coupled with a facile and environmentally friendly preparation strategy, this method shows great application potential for water-in-oil emulsion separation and oil purification.
- Water-in-oil emulsion,
- Oil-water separation,
- Sodium sulfate decahydrate,
- Phase transition,
- Microparticles
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