Modification of polyester non-woven fabric by amphiphilic copolymer P(TFE-VA) for ultra high-flux oil/water separation

摘要

Due to the adverse impacts on ecosystem and human health, oily wastewater or crude oils released into environment has attracted significant attention in recent years. To address such concerns, there has been a rapid progress in the development of oil-water separation materials (typically modified mesh, fabric or membrane) 1 . The material should be a selective barrier to ensure a sole permeation of oil (superoleophilic) or water (superhydrophilic). Currently , materials are mostly superoleophilic and superhydrophobic, but such materials are not suitable for separating oil/water mixture with only gravity because water forms a barrier beneath the oil layer. The separating material is also vulnerable to oil fouling (especially oil with high viscosity), lowering the reusability. Previously, we used a new amphiphilic copolymer, poly(tetrafluoride-co-vinyl alcohol) (P(TFE-VA)) to modify PVDF membrane for antifouling. Under adequate condition, this copolymer could also be applied to modify a polyester fabric for oil-water separation. In this work, we explored the feasibility of creating an underwater superhydrophilic and superoleophobic fabric with P(TFE-VA) and silica nanoparticle. The obtained fabric had a high flux of larger than 40,000 LMH bar~(-1), and were characterized and used in separating multiple types of oil-water mixtures.