Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Author Spotlight: Optimizing Hollow-Fiber Membranes for Continuous Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Medium-Chain Fatty Acids
Published on: August 9, 2024
Selective separation of oil and water with mesh membranes by capillarity
Yuanlie Yu1, Hua Chen2, Yun Liu3
1Advanced Membrane and Porous Materials Center, Division of Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
The separation of oil and water from wastewater generated in the oil-production industries, as well as in frequent oil spillage events, is important in mitigating severe environmental and ecological damage. Additionally, a wide arrange of industrial processes require oils or fats to be removed from aqueous systems. The immiscibility of oil and water allows for the wettability of solid surfaces to be engineered to achieve the separation of oil and water through capillarity. Mesh membranes with extreme, selective wettability can efficiently remove oil or water from oil/water mixtures through a simple filtration process using gravity. A wide range of different types of mesh membranes have been successfully rendered with extreme wettability and applied to oil/water separation in the laboratory. These mesh materials have typically shown good durability, stability as well as reusability, which makes them promising candidates for an ever widening range of practical applications.
Related Concept Videos
Capillary Electrophoresis: Applications
Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) separates ionic components based on their electrophoretic mobility. It has been used to separate proteins, amino acids,...
Size-Exclusion Chromatography
Silica particles offer advantages such as rigidity,...
Dialysis
Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation
Electrophoresis: Overview
There...
Centrifugation

