Fabrication and Characterization of TiO2 Coatings on 304 Stainless-Steel Substrate for Efficient Oil/Water Separation

Oil spill accidents have been a prevalent threat to the environment. To aid in clean-up efforts, a stainless-steel filter with a hydrophilic and oleophobic coating was fabricated for efficient and affordable oil/water separation. Two solutions were used to deposit the coatings. One was sourced from a titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) precursor dissolved into 1-butanol and the other through the mixing of titanium dioxide nanopowder with glacial acetic acid. The solutions were applied to 304 stainless-steel mesh filters of varying aperture sizes ranging from 30 microns to 240 microns. The coating was applied through a multiphase deposition method followed by sintering at 450 °C. The filter performance was evaluated by contact angle measurement and a filtration test using a mixture of motor oil and water, while the surface morphology and structure of the coatings were characterized by SEM-EDS and XRD. The mesh with smaller aperture size showed oil retention improvement of up to 99%. The TiO2 nanopowder coating, with a 92% oil retention efficiency, outperformed the coating via the TTIP precursor.