Omni-Directional Protected Nanofiber Membranes by Surface Segregation of PDMS-Terminated Triblock Copolymer for High-Efficiency Oil/Water Emulsion Separation

Abstract

An excellent antifouling membrane with high permeate flux is required for oil/water emulsion separation due to ever-increasing oily industrial wastewater. Thus, an intriguing integration of the Omni-directional protected porous membrane that combines a high porosity nanofiber membrane with a surface segregation mechanism is established for the first time. By applying polydimethylsiloxane­(PDMS)-terminated triblock copolymer, the enrichment of the hydrophilic poly­(ethylene oxide) (PEO) segment and the nonpolar PDMS segment on the surface of the nanofiber endowed the nanofiber membrane with underwater oleophobicity and low oil adhesion force, exhibiting oil resistance as well as oil release property. An ultrahigh permeate flux of ∼7115 L m–2 h–1 with a separation efficiency of ∼97.88% is achieved under the driving force of gravity (∼0.9 kPa), which is the highest permeate flux ever reported under similar conditions. Moreover, the surface segregation nanofiber membrane shows excellent reusability and ultrahigh permeate flux with the assistance of stirring in a long-term test, revealing the promising performances for the further particular application of oily wastewater.

Structural design toward functional materials by electrospinning: A review

“…By structural design with modifications on spinnerets and collectors, functional electrospun fibers with special structures Janus, core-shell, hollow, porous, helical, etc., are comprehensively investigated. Such functional electrospun fibers have been widely used in different fields, such as masks (26,27), stimuli-responsive materials and actuators (28)(29)(30)(31), separation and filtration (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), reinforcements (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45), wearable electronics (46)(47)(48)(49)(50), sponges/aerogels (51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56), tissue engineering (57,58), detection metal ions (59)(60)(61), energy storage (62)(63)(64)(65)(66), catalysts (67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)…”

Recent advances in membrane hydrophilic modification with plant polyphenol‐inspired coatings for enhanced oily emulsion separation

“…[1][2][3] To meet the demand of sustainable development of economy, environment and society, efficient oil/water separation is urgently needed to purify the water and recycle the oil resource. 4 Conventional techniques to handle oil/water mixtures, such as insitu burning, 5 gravity separation, 6 air flotation, 7 centrifugation, 8 electrochemical treatment, 9 biodegradation 10 and and so on, might face the problems of high energy consumption, tedious manual operation, undesirable second pollution and incomplete separation, which limit their practical applications and motivate researchers to seek for more advanced solutions. 11,12 Nowadays, porous filters with special wettability are regarded as promising candidates for effective treatment of oily wastewater.…”

“…Oily wastewater pollution resulting from petrochemical, food, manufacturing industries as well as frequent oil spill accidents has become an ongoing worldwide challenge, ascribed to its profound negative impacts on ecological environment and human health 1–3 . To meet the demand of sustainable development of economy, environment and society, efficient oil/water separation is urgently needed to purify the water and recycle the oil resource 4 . Conventional techniques to handle oil/water mixtures, such as in‐situ burning, 5 gravity separation, 6 air flotation, 7 centrifugation, 8 electrochemical treatment, 9 biodegradation 10 and and so on, might face the problems of high energy consumption, tedious manual operation, undesirable second pollution and incomplete separation, which limit their practical applications and motivate researchers to seek for more advanced solutions 11,12 .…”

Anti-Biofouling Polymers with Special Surface Wettability for Biomedical Applications

“…After the design principle of materials with special surface wettability has been proposed by Lei Jiang et al ( Su et al, 2016 ), alterations in surface wettability allow the fine-tuning of bionic antifouling coatings and such techniques have attracted much attention over the past decade ( He et al, 2021 ). The fluoro- and silicone-based hydrophobic polymers used in traditional antifouling materials reduce the attachment of the fouling substances to the surface ( Lejars et al, 2012 ; Dobretsov and Thomason, 2011 ; Liang et al, 2020 ; Carl et al, 2012 ). Together with the chemical composition of the material, physical properties including the “Lotus Leaf,” “Rice Leaf,” and “Shark Skin” effects also influence the antifouling action ( Zhang et al, 2016 ; Zhao and Liu, 2016 ; Shi et al, 2015 ; Lee and Yong, 2015 ; Roach et al, 2008 ; Pan et al, 2019 ; Jiang et al, 2015 ; Ball, 1999 ; Pu et al, 2016 ; Azemar et al, 2015 ; Kang et al, 2013 ; Bixler and Bhushan, 2013 ; Zhu et al, 2010 ; Bixler and Bhushan, 2014 ; Wu et al, 2011 ; Lee et al, 2013 ; Xia and Jiang, 2008 ).…”