Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Water in Oil Emulsions: A New System for Assembling Water-soluble Chlorophyll-binding Proteins with Hydrophobic Pigments
Published on: March 21, 2016
Fabrication of a PPS Microporous Membrane for Efficient Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation
Chao Yang1, Na Han1, Weijing Wang1
1State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes; School of Materials Science and Engineering , Tianjin Polytechnic University , Tianjin 300387 , China.
Abstract:
Separation of emulsified water/oil mixtures is a worldwide concern. However, poor chemical and solvent resistance of general polymeric membranes limit these membranes for application in the separation process. In this study, a poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) porous membrane with a rough concave topographic feature was fabricated, which exhibited excellent superoleophilicity and under-oil superhydrophobicity. The membrane is capable of separating both surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized emulsions with a high flux. All of the water contents of the treated oils were below 300 ppm. The excellent water resistance property and cycling performance support the PPS membrane displaying an excellent reusability. Additionally, this PPS membrane was also certified to be used in strong solvents for a long time. In conclusion, the successful application of the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method may provide a new approach to fabricate the PPS membrane and improve its properties, and the application of the PPS membrane to separate water-in-oil emulsions is promising in practical applications.
Related Concept Videos
Water and Mineral Acquisition
States of Water
Water freezes when the intermolecular forces are greater than the kinetic energy. Unlike most other substances, water is less dense in its solid state than in its liquid state. This is because each water molecule can form...
The Water Cycle
Design Example: Flow of Oil Through Circular Pipes
Quality of Water
Separation of Sister Chromatids
At the onset of anaphase, separase, a proteolytic enzyme, is...

