Contactless Interfacial Thin-Film Breaking Caused Splash-Like Demulsification of Floating Micron Emulsions via Ionic Wind

Emulsified oil leakage onto the bulk water surface causes severe issues on global ecology and health. Developing efficient, rapid, and universal separation methods of emulsions has been a significant topic in scientific studies. However, a contactless and additive-free strategy to achieve continuous floating emulsion separation and oil collection remains to be discovered. Herein, a universal contactless demulsification, transportation, and collection method to dispose floating emulsions by ionic wind, which contains active charged particles generated by corona discharge is reported. The splash-like demulsification process of floating emulsions is attributed to the rupture of water film enveloped on oil droplet surface, simultaneously and respectively. The evidence of this process recorded by a high-speed camera with 20 000 fps has a referential significance for other works. This study may clean up universal floating emulsions discharged on water in real situations such as oil stations, chemical plants, and restaurants, and furthermore increase the potential of remote control in liquid dynamics by corona discharge.