A versatile, highly effective nanofibrous separation membrane. Issue 4 (21st January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Hua; Niu, Haitao; Wang, Hongxia; Yang, Weidong; Wei, Xin; Shao, Hao; Lin, Tong
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale. Volume 12:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 2359
• Page End: 2365
• Publication Date: 2020-01-21
• Subjects: Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c9nr09776g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3364

Abstract

Abstract : A single piece of fibrous membrane with amphibious superhydrophilicity–superoleophobicity can perform multitask filtration to effectively separate tiny oil droplets and solid particles from both air and water. Abstract : Although a wide range of fibrous filters are available for diverse filtration tasks to separate solid or oil particles from a gas or liquid medium, a single filter seldom shows versatile separation capability to perform multi-separation tasks to separate both types of particles from different media. Herein, we report a novel nanofibrous membrane that can separate oil/water emulsions (efficiency over 99.9%) at a flux as high as 4082 L m −2 h −1 as well as oil aerosol droplets (efficiency of 99.98% for oil droplets sized ∼330 nm) and solid aerosol particles from air (efficiency 85–99%) and micro-sized solid particles from water (efficiency >95%). The fibrous membrane is reusable to accomplish cross-medium filtration tasks. This versatile, highly efficient separation capability originates from the fine fibrous structure and an amphibious superhydrophilic–superoleophobic surface feature. This may be useful for the development of advanced technologies for various environmental protection applications.