Superhydrophobic microporous membrane based on modified microfibrillated cellulose framework for efficient oil-water...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Industrial oily wastewater poses significant environmental challenges.
• Development of stable and efficient oil/water separation membranes is crucial.
• Cellulose-based materials offer a sustainable platform for membrane fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a novel cellulose-based superhydrophobic membrane for oily wastewater treatment.
• To investigate the oil-water separation performance and stability of the developed membrane.

Main Methods:

• Modification of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) with rod-like hydroxyapatite (HAP).
• Fabrication of a microporous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-MFC-HAP membrane.
• Characterization of membrane superhydrophobicity (water contact angle) and oil-water separation performance.

Main Results:

• The PDMS-MFC-HAP membrane exhibited superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 151.6°.
• Achieved high separation flux (up to 3665.3 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹) and efficiency (>99.6%) for various water-in-oil emulsions.
• Demonstrated excellent reusability, maintaining 98.6% separation efficiency after 20 cycles.

Conclusions:

• A simple and effective method for fabricating cellulose-based superhydrophobic membranes was developed.
• The PDMS-MFC-HAP membrane shows great potential for high-efficiency oil-water separation in oily wastewater treatment.
• This approach offers a promising solution for sustainable industrial wastewater management.