Collagen fiber membrane-derived chemically and mechanically durable superhydrophobic membrane for high-performance emulsion separation

Abstract

Developing high-performance separation membrane with good durability is a highly desired while challenging issue. Herein, we reported the successful fabrication of chemically and mechanically durable superhydrophobic membrane that was prepared by embedding UiO-66 as size-sieving sites within the supramolecular fiber structure of collagen fiber membrane (CFM), followed by the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating. The as-prepared CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane featured capillary effect-enhanced separation flux and homogeneous porous channels guaranteed high separation efficiency. When utilized as double-layer separation membranes, this new type of composite membranes separated various surfactant stabilized water-in-oil microemulsions and nanoemulsions, with the separation efficiency high up to 99.993 % and the flux as high as 973.3 L m− 2 h− 1. Compared with commercial polytetrafluoro ethylene (PTFE) membrane, the advantage of the double-layer CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membranes in separation flux was evident, which exhibited one order of magnitude higher than that of commercial PTFE membrane. The CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane was acid-alkali tolerant, UV-aging resistant and reusable for emulsion separation. Notably, the CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane was mechanically durable against strong mechanical abrasion, which was still capable of separating diverse water-in-oil emulsions after the abrasion with sandpaper and assembled as double-layer separation membranes. We anticipate that the combination of CFM and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) is an effective strategy for fabricating high-performance separation membrane with high mechanical and chemical durability. Graphical Abstract

Soft while strong mechanical shock tolerable e-skins

“…, temperature, pressure, and heating). 6–8 Biomimicking the sensory functionality of skin has been investigated extensively. 9–13 A variety of electronic skins (e-skins) have been developed based on different sensing strategies ( e.g.…”

Steam activation tuned porous structure and surface wetting behaviors of mesoporous biochars for corrosive oily wastewater treatments

“…This corrosive oily wastewater is difficult to separate by conventional polymeric separation materials due to their poor resistance to acid/alkali corrosion and oil corrosion, which makes it difficult for these materials to maintain structural stability that is critical for accomplishing emulsion separation 6,7 . As a result, there is an urgent need to explore corrosive‐resistant separation materials that are capable of separating corrosive emulsions with high separation effectiveness 1,8 …”

“…6,7 As a result, there is an urgent need to explore corrosive-resistant separation materials that are capable of separating corrosive emulsions with high separation effectiveness. 1,8 Biochars are chemically stable and have a high resistance to acidic and alkali solutions, so they are promising substrates for developing low-cost and corrosive-resistant separation materials. 9 In general, biochars are conveniently prepared by the pyrolysis of biomass at high temperatures 10 and they feature unique structural properties, such as well-developed porous structure, high specific surface area, and abundant active functional groups, thus providing accessible active sites for achieving desired separation purposes.…”

“…Oily wastewater has emerged as a concerning environmental issue because a large quantity of oily wastewater is consistently being generated by a variety of industrial processes, such as petroleum exploitation, machinery manufacture, cold rolling, and many processes within the textile industry. [1][2][3] In general, oily wastewater exists in the form of an emulsified oil-water mixture (i.e., emulsion) that normally has a small droplet size, low surface energy, good dispersity, and high stability. 4,5 In some industrial processes, the discharged emulsion wastewater is even corrosive due to the presence of corrosive chemicals in the wastewater, such as the oily wastewater generated by alkali washing operations.…”

Tannery solid waste-derived cross-scale deformable piezoresistive sensors for monitoring human body motions

“…The self-assembly abilities of collagenous materials therefore provide TSWs with another attractive opportunity to further enhance the sensitivity and sensory range, especially for the large scale deformations occurring in the microscale range triggered by high pressure stimuli. Our previous research studies have demonstrated that collagen fibers are highly reactive biopolymers rich in multiple functional groups, [10][11][12] which therefore allowed for the efficient tuning of the conductivity of TSWs via different covalent and/or no covalent reactions.…”