Biomimetic and Superwettable Nanofibrous Skins for Highly Efficient Separation of Oil‐in‐Water Emulsions. (8th January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ge, Jianlong; Zong, Dingding; Jin, Qing; Yu, Jianyong; Ding, Bin
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 28:Number 10(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-01-08
• Subjects: biomimetic skin -- nanofibrous membranes -- oil‐in‐water emulsion separation -- superhydrophilic -- underwater superoleophobic; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201705051
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

Abstract: Developing a feasible and efficient separation membrane for the purification of highly emulsified oily wastewater is of significance but challenging due to the critical limitations of low flux and serious membrane fouling. Herein, a biomimetic and superwettable nanofibrous skin on an electrospun fibrous membrane via a facile strategy of synchronous electrospraying and electrospinning is created. The obtained nanofibrous skin possesses a lotus‐leaf‐like micro/nanostructured surface with intriguing superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, which are due to the synergistic effect of the hierarchical roughness and hydrophilic polymeric matrix. The ultrathin, high porosity, sub‐micrometer porous skin layer results in the composite nanofibrous membranes exhibiting superior performances for separating both highly emulsified surfactant‐free and surfactant‐stabilized oil‐in‐water emulsions. An ultrahigh permeation flux of up to 5152 L m −2 h −1 with a separation efficiency of >99.93% is obtained solely under the driving of gravity (≈1 kPa), which was one order of magnitude higher than that of conventional filtration membranes with similar separation properties, showing significant applicability for energy‐saving filtration. Moreover, with the advantage of an excellent antioil fouling property, the membrane exhibits robust reusability for long‐term separation, which is promising for large‐scale oily wastewater remediation. Abstract : A biomimetic and superwettable nanofibrous skin is constructed in situ. The membrane equipped with the skin layer exhibits sub‐micrometer pores, superhydrophilicity, and underwater superoleophobicity, which is effective in separating the highly emulsified oil‐in‐water emulsions with excellent separation efficiency, has high permeation fluxes at a low driving pressure, along with an intriguing antifouling property and good reusability.