A polypropylene melt-blown strategy for the facile and efficient membrane separation of oil-water mixtures

摘要

Porous materials with selective wettability and permeability have significant importance in oil-water separation,but complex fabrication processes are typically required to obtain the desired structures with suitable surface chemistry.In this work,an industrial melt-blown strategy that utilized commercially available polypropylene(PP)was used for the large-scale fabrication of superhydrophobic/superoleophilic membranes with staggered fabric structures.These membranes could readily separate different oils including pump oil and crude oil from various aqueous solutions such as strongly acidic,alkaline,and saline media.In addition,the separation efficiencies of these membranes exceeded 99%,and they could remain functional even after exposure to corrosive media.We anticipate that this work will further the design of membranes and enhance their applicability in oil-water separation,and provide researchers and engineers with a more effective tool for performing challenging separations and mitigating pollution.