A Facile Approach for Fabricating Dual-Function Membrane: Simultaneously Removing Oil from Water and Adsorbing Water-Soluble Proteins

摘要

Oil/water separation has been a worldwide challenge due to the serious water pollution caused by the increasing industrial oily wastewater, and the frequent oil spill accidents, etc. The environmental pollution aroused by oil/water mixtures makes a lot of damage to the ecotope related to people’s production and living. Therefore, it is highly desired to develop high-efficiency oil/water separation materials, among which materials with special wettability have been recently paid great attention. Such materials are mainly divided into two categories: one is oil-removing materials with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity that can realize filtration or absorption of oils from water, and the other is water-removing materials with superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties which are capable of separating water from oil/water mixtures. It is found that the chemical composition and geometrical microstructure are two main factors that contribute to those unique properties.