PVDF composite membrane with robust UV-induced self-cleaning performance for durable oil/water emulsions separation

Qianqian Wang, Jiuyun Cui, Atian Xie, Jihui Lang, Chunxiang Li, Yongsheng Yan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Membranes with special wettability (superhydrophobic/superoleophilic or superhydrophilic/superoleophobic) had been introduced to separate oil/water emulsions. Nevertheless, the surface or pore canals of membrane easily fouled by oily wastewater are the tough challenges towards longtime application. In this work, a PVDF@PDA@ZnO membrane was firstly fabricated via growth of ZnO nanoparticles from ZnO seeds planted on the PVDF@PDA membrane. This PVDF@PDA@ZnO membrane showed good separation capability for various emulsions (which the separation efficiencies and fluxes were up to 99.1% and 654 L m 2 h 1, respectively). The degradation rate of MB solution treated by the composite membrane was almost 100% attributing to the excellent photocatalytic ability of ZnO. Moreover, the composite membrane could maintain high efficiency (above 99.27%) after long-time emulsions separation/UV-light irradiation, which displayed superior UV-driven self-cleaning and oxidation resistance performance. This self-cleanable composite membrane possessed durability and held high promise for long-time oil/water emulsions separation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)130-139
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Volume110
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Hydrothermal reaction
  • Oil/water emulsions separation
  • Self-cleanable composite membrane
  • ZnO nanorods

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