Fabrication of hyperbranched polyether demulsifier modified PVDF membrane for demulsification and separation of oil-in-water emulsion

Synergistic Construction of Superhydrophilic PVDF Membranes by Dual Modification Strategies for Efficient Emulsion Separation

Solving the problem of oil and water pollution is an important topic in environmental protection. The separation of oil-water emulsion with high efficiency and low consumption has been the direction of social efforts. Membrane separation technology combined with surface wettability and pore size screening is considered to be one of the most promising ways to separate oil-water emulsions. In this paper, the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane is prepared by combining the two methods of blending and coating modification as a double barrier. The prepared PVDF membrane can completely wet water, achieve superhydrophilic in air, and superoleophobic underwater. The separation efficiency and flux are 99.57% and 678 L h-1 m-2 bar-1, respectively, for toluene emulsions containing surfactants with an average particle size of 1.7 µm. At the same time, it can also effectively separate different kinds of light/heavy oils. After three cycles of testing still maintain high efficiency of separation. The results show that the prepared PVDF membrane can effectively separate the emulsion containing surfactant with smaller particle size distribution of oil droplets. This method provides a new strategy for the separation of oil-water emulsions and has broad application prospects.

Impact of SiO2 doping on the structure and oil-water separation properties of a PVDF membrane: insights from molecular dynamics simulation

Hybrid inorganic particles combined with polymers are widely used to modify the properties of polymer membranes. However, the mechanism by which particles affect membranes remains unclear. This study investigates SiO2-hybridized PVDF membranes through molecular dynamic simulation, focusing on the interaction between SiO2 clusters and PVDF chains. It examines the impact of varying SiO2 concentrations (3.5 wt%, 6.8 wt%, 9.9 wt%, 12.8 wt%, and 15.5 wt%) on membrane stability and structure. The results indicate that adding SiO2 can inhibit PVDF chain mobility in the membrane with minimal effect on fractional free volume (FFV), except for altering interactions between PVDF-PVDF, PVDF-SiO2, and SiO2-SiO2, thereby affecting the structure of hybrid membranes. The adsorption and diffusion behavior of water and oil molecules on these membranes were also studied. It was observed that the adsorption energy and diffusion coefficient initially increase and then decrease with increasing SiO2 concentration, reaching an optimum between 6.8 wt% and 12.8 wt%. This phenomenon is attributed to the ability of optimal SiO2 concentrations to create hydrophilic channels in PVDF membranes, enhancing water affinity and reducing oil affinity. Consequently, water permeation through the hybrid membrane is promoted, improving the efficiency of oil/water separation compared to pure PVDF membranes. This research contributes to understanding the function of adding inorganic particles to polymer membranes and provides insights for designing advanced functional hybrid membranes.

One-Step Phase Separation and Mineralization Fabrication of Membranes for Oily Wastewater Treatment

Oily wastewater threatens the environment and the human health. Membrane technology offers a simple and efficient alternative to separating oil and water. However, complex membrane modifications are usually employed to optimize the separation performance. In this research, we develop an extremely simple one-step method to in situ calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanoparticles onto a porous polyketone (PK) membrane via a nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS)-mineralization strategy. We utilized the unique chemical property of PK, which allows it to dissolve in a resorcinol aqueous solution. PK was mixed with tannic acid (TA) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) in a resorcinol aqueous solution to fabricate a casting solution. The activated membrane was cast and immersed into a sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) aqueous solution for taking the one-step NIPS-mineralization process. This proposed NIPS-mineralization mechanism comes to two conclusions: (i) the resulting membrane with comprehensive oleophobic properties and enhanced permeation flux for applications of oil/water separation with ultralow fouling and (ii) simplified the procedure to optimize the membrane performance using regular NIPS steps. The current work explores a one-step NIPS-mineralization technique that offers a novel approach to preparing membranes with highly efficient oil/water separation performance.

Direct-coating of cellulose hydrogel on PVDF membranes with superhydrophilic and antifouling properties for high-efficiency oil/water emulsion separation

As a well-known natural and innocuous plant constituent, cellulose consists of abundant hydroxyl groups and can tightly adsorb onto material surfaces hydrogen bonding, resulting in a superhydrophilic surface. In this work, the hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were modified by immersing them in cellulose hydrogel using a simple one-step process. The modified PVDF membrane exhibited excellent resistance to fouling and oil adhesion, making it highly effective in separating various oil-in-water emulsions. The cellulose-modified PVDF membranes achieved a high oil rejection rate (>99 %) and a maximum separation flux of 2675.2 L·m-2·h-1. Furthermore, even an oil-in-water emulsion containing bovine serum albumin maintained a steady permeation flux after four filtration cycles. Additionally, these cellulose-modified PVDF membranes demonstrated excellent underwater superoleophobicity across a wide range of pH levels and high saline conditions. Overall, these cellulose-modified superhydrophilic PVDF membranes are sustainable, environmentally friendly, easily scalable, and hold great promise for practical applications in oily wastewater treatment.

Compressible Separator and Catalyst for Simultaneous Separation and Purification of Emulsions and Aqueous Pollutants

Oily wastewater, a global environmental concern, demands efficient oil/water separation and pollutant removal. Our compressible separator and catalyst (CSC) balls, prepared through sponge etching and metal nanoparticle synthesis, exhibited efficient degradation of dyes of varying sizes, spanning a molecular weight range from 139 to 696 g/mol during the oil/water separation. Control over the distance between catalysts was achieved by incorporating Ag-Pt-Pd catalysts into the sponge skeleton and by adjusting the compression rates. The dispersion of the catalysts improved degradation efficiency for larger dyes, while concentrating the catalysts proved to be more effective for the smaller ones. By optimizing the compression rates of CSC balls, we successfully achieved the effective removal of emulsions of different sizes and precise control of flux. Our CSC ball-loaded system offers efficient and versatile solutions for concurrent separation and purification of emulsions and pollutants with potential environmental benefits.

A comprehensive review on the behavior and evolution of oil droplets during oil/water separation by membranes

Membrane separation technology has significant advantages for treating oil-in-water emulsions. Understanding the evolution of oil droplets could reveal the interfacial and colloidal interactions, facilitate the design of advanced membranes, and improve the separation performances. This review on the characteristic behavior and evolution of oil droplets focuses on the advanced analytical techniques, and the subsequent fouling as well as demulsification effects during membrane separation. A detailed introduction is provided on microscopic observations and numerical simulations of the dynamic evolution of oil droplets, featuring real-time in-situ visualization and accurate reconstruction, respectively. Characteristic behaviors of these oil droplets include attachment, pinning, wetting, spreading, blockage, intrusion, coalescence, and detachment, which have been quantified by specific proposed parameters and criteria. The fouling process can be evaluated using Hermia and resistance models. The related adhesion force and intrusion pressure as well as droplet-droplet/membrane interfacial interactions can be accurately quantified using various force analysis methods and advanced force measurement techniques. It is encouraging to note that oil coalescence has been achieved through various effects such as electrostatic interactions, mechanical actions, Laplace pressure/surface free energy gradients, and synergistic effects on functional membranes. When oil droplets become destabilized and coalesce into larger ones, the functional membranes can overcome the limitations of size-sieving effect to attain higher separation efficiency. This not only bypasses the trade-off between permeability and rejection, but also significantly reduces membrane fouling. Finally, the challenges and potential research directions in membrane separation are proposed. We hope this review will support the engineering of advanced materials for oil/water separation and research on interface science in general.

Sequential Demulsification through the Hydrophobic-Hydrophilic-Hydrophobic Filtration Layer toward High-Performing Oil Recovery

Demulsification using membranes is a promising method to coalesce highly stable emulsified oil droplets for oil recovery. Nevertheless, a structure of the current filtration medium that is not efficient for oil droplet coalescence impedes rapid permeability, thereby inevitably restricting their practical applications. Herein, we report a hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic (3H) demulsification medium that exhibits a benchmark permeability of ∼2.1 × 104 L m-2 h-1 with a demulsification efficiency of >98.0%. Remarkably, this 3H demulsification medium maintains over 90% demulsification efficiency in the oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions with a wide range of surfactant concentrations, which shows excellent applicability. Based on the combined results of quasi situ microscope images and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the polydimethylsiloxane-modified hydrophobic layer facilitates the capture and coalescence of oil droplets, the hydrophilic inner layer assists in squeezing the coalescence of enlarged droplets, and the third hydrophobic layer accelerates the discharge of demulsified oil to sustain permeability. The sequential demulsification mechanism between this 3H filtration layer provides a general guide for designing a demulsifying membrane with high demulsification efficiency and high flux toward oil recovery.

Rational Design of High-Flux, Eco-Friendly, and Versatile Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic PDMS@ZIF-7/Cu3(PO4)2 Mesh with Self-Cleaning Property for Oil-Water Mixture and Emulsion Separation

In recent years, efficient oil-water separation has gradually become an indispensable part of environmental treatment. Superhydrophobic/superoleophilic materials with excellent self-cleaning performance are urgently required and remain challenging in the investigation of practical, rapid, and efficient separation of oil-water mixture and emulsion, especially those with robust surfaces that can be used in harsh conditions. In this work, a novel superhydrophobic/superoleophilic material was first fabricated by in situ constructing PDMS@ZIF-7/Cu₃(PO₄)₂ hierarchical architectures on a copper mesh, which was adopted as a high flux and efficient separation material for gravity-driven separation of oil-water mixture as well as emulsion. The introduction of crucial Cu₃(PO₄)₂ nanosheet interlayers created the ideal hierarchical structures and serve as partial templates for the subsequent in situ growth of hydrophobic ZIF-7 nanosheets. An improved superhydrophobicity (CA = 155°), permeation flux (102,000 L m^-2 h^-1), and preferred self-cleaning property were thus achieved by such manipulation of the copper mesh. The PDMS@ZIF-7/Cu₃(PO₄)₂ mesh exhibited exceptional separation efficiency for diverse oil-water mixtures and emulsions attributed to the superhydrophobicity and the demulsification ability and considerable stability to cope with extreme environments including sunlight resistance, low temperature, and corrosion resistance, which prompted its promising applicability in cleaning emulsified wastewater.

Demulsifier-Inspired Superhydrophilic/Underwater Superoleophobic Membrane Modified with Polyoxypropylene Polyoxyethylene Block Polymer for Enhanced Oil/Water Separation Properties

Demulsifiers are considered the key materials for oil/water separation. Various works in recent years have shown that demulsifiers with polyoxypropylen epolyoxyethylene branched structures possess better demulsification effects. In this work, inspired by the chemical structure of demulsifiers, a novel superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic membrane modified with a polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene block polymer was fabricated for enhanced separation of O/W emulsion. First, a typical polyoxypropylene polyoxyethylene triblock polymer (Pluronic F127) was grafted onto the poly styrene-maleic anhydride (SMA). Then, the Pluronic F127-grafted SMA (abbreviated as F127@SMA) was blended with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for the preparation of the F127@SMA/PVDF ultrafiltration membrane. The obtained F127@SMA/PVDF ultrafiltration membrane displayed superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic properties, with a water contact angle of 0° and an underwater oil contact angle (UOCA) higher than 150° for various oils. Moreover, it had excellent separation efficiency for SDS-stabilized emulsions, even when the oil being emulsified was crude oil. The oil removal efficiency was greater than 99.1%, and the flux was up to 272.4 L·m^-2·h^-1. Most importantly, the proposed F127@SMA/PVDF membrane also exhibited outstanding reusability and long-term stability. Its UOCA remained higher than 150° in harsh acidic, alkaline, and high-salt circumstances. Overall, the present work proposed an environmentally friendly and convenient approach for the development of practical oil/water separation membranes.

A superwetting stainless steel mesh with Janus surface charges for efficient emulsion separation

Design of charged materials for demulsification of ionic surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions is emerging in recent years. Herein, a superwetting stainless steel mesh with Janus surface charges (Janus SSM) was prepared by respectively brush-coating polyethyleneimine/aminated carbon nanotubes (PEI/CNTs-NH₂) coating and polyacrylic acid (PAA) coating on its two sides. Two demulsification mechanisms, i.e., electrostatic attraction-repulsion and electrostatic repulsion-attraction based on the synergism of two oppositely charged sides were proposed. Combined with the superwettability and optimized pore size, the Janus SSM can successfully be used to demulsify, coalesce and separate emulsions. In detail, the Janus SSM exhibited separation efficiencies of up to 99.29%, 97.12% for SDS- and DTAC-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions respectively under the electrostatic attraction-repulsion mechanism, and up to 97.10%, 98.57% under the electrostatic repulsion-attraction mechanism. The results indicated that the electrostatic attraction-repulsion mechanism proposed in this study is conductive to achieving higher efficiency in emulsion separation. Furthermore, excellent durability extend the operation life of Janus SSM. This Janus SSM, which combines opposite charges on its two sides, may advance the development of charged materials for emulsion separation.

Dissecting the Chain Length Effect on Separation of Alkane-in-Water Emulsions with Superwetting Microchannels

Oil/water separation is an essential process in the petrochemical industry, environmental remediation, and water treatment. Alkanes are the major components of crude oil and are difficult to separate once they form emulsions in water. Much less attention has been focused on the feature of liquid alkanes that could, in turn, influence the separation process. The role of chain length is systematically studied herein by separating the alkane-in-water emulsions with superwetting titanium microchannels of 14-55 μm. The chain length covers the entire liquid alkane spectrum with carbon numbers ranging from 6 to 16. The separation efficiency decreases while the TOC content increases with the chain length of liquid alkanes for a given channel. This is attributed to the small Ostwald ripening rate with the long chains, which stabilize the oil droplets of small sizes that could pass through the zigzag channels. Accordingly, a high separation efficiency of >99.97% and a low TOC content of <5 ppm are achieved with superhydrophilic channels of 14 μm for alkanes with less than 12 carbons. The metallic microchannels surpass the conventional organic membranes and inorganic frameworks over the entire liquid n-alkane spectrum, paving the way for the future development of oil/water separation using porous metals.

Switchable wettability of grain-stacked filter layers from polyurethane plastic waste for oil/water separation

HYPOTHESIS

Polyurethane plastic waste (PUPW), a port-abundant solid waste, is difficult to degrade naturally and poses a severe threat to the environment. Hence, the effective recycling of PUPW remains a challenge.

EXPERIMENTS

Herein, a strategy of converting PUPW into stacked oil/water filtration layer grain through a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly process is investigated. Notably, such PU-based, grain-stacked, and switchable wettability of the oil/water filter layer is first reported.

FINDINGS

The grain-stacked filter layers are flexible for separating immiscible oil/water mixtures, water-in-oil emulsions (WOE), and oil-in-water emulsions (OWE) under gravity over 10 cycle-usages. They can withstand strong acid/alkali solutions (pH = 1-14) and salt solutions over 12 h. Besides, 100-times scale-up experiments have indicated that the obtained filter layers exhibit an upper to 98.2 % separation efficiency for 10 L real industrial oil/water emulsion in the 24 h continuous operation. The demulsification mechanism for emulsions is that the electrostatic interaction along with adsorption between emulsion droplets and grains leads to the uneven distribution of surfactants on the interface film of the emulsion droplets, increasing the probability of tiny droplets colliding and coalescing into large droplets to achieve oil/water separation. This work proposes an effective and economical method of abundant plastic waste for industrial-scale oil-water separation rather than just on the laboratory-scale.

Bio-inspired super liquid-repellent membranes for membrane distillation: Mechanisms, fabrications and applications

With the aggravation of the global water crisis, membrane distillation (MD) for seawater desalination and hypersaline wastewater treatment is highlighted due to its low operating temperature, low hydrostatic pressure, and theoretically 100% rejection. However, some issues still impede the large-scale applications of MD technology, such as membrane fouling, scaling and unsatisfactory wetting resistance. Bio-inspired super liquid-repellent membranes have progressed rapidly in the past decades and been considered as one of the most promising approaches to overcome the above problems. This review for the first time systematically summarizes and analyzes the mechanisms of different super liquid-repellent surfaces, their preparation and modification methods, and anti-wetting/fouling/scaling performances in the MD process. Firstly, the topology theories of in-air superhydrophobic, in-air omniphobic and underwater superoleophobic surfaces are illustrated using different models. Secondly, the fabrication methods of various super liquid-repellent membranes are classified. The merits and demerits of each method are illustrated. Thirdly, the anti-wetting/fouling/scaling mechanisms of super liquid-repellent membranes are summarized. Finally, the conclusions and perspectives of the bio-inspired super liquid-repellent membranes are elaborated. It is anticipated that the systematic review herein can provide readers with foundational knowledge and current progress of super liquid-repellent membranes, and inspire researchers to overcome the challenges up ahead.

Demulsification Treatment of Spent Metalworking Fluids by Metal Cations: The Synergistic Effect and Efficiency Evaluation

In this paper, various metal ions were utilized for the demulsification of spent metalworking fluids discharged from an automobile parts workshop. Five types of metal ions, i.e., Fe3+, Al3+, Fe2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, combined with coagulant were systematically evaluated, and the synergistic effect as well as the optimum operating conditions were studied. The results indicated that the Ca2+ as well Mg2+ possessed hardly efficiency for the demulsification, on the contrary, Fe2+ reduced the yield of the by-product sludge and lowered the SV30 ratio, and Al3+ boosted the CODCr removal. Furthermore, Fe3+ and Al3+ had a significant synergistic effect to achieve a better transmittance and a higher CODCr/SV30 ratio which revealed that more CODCr was removed, as well as less by-product sludge was generated. For a better demulsification of spent metalworking fluids, the optimum operating conditions were gathered as follows: the dosage of metal ions was 0.08 mol/L with Al3+:Fe3+ ratio was 1.5:1, the reaction pH was 6.00, the reaction time was 18.00 min and the temperature was 323.00 K. Based on this, the CODCr removal, the SV30 ratio and the transmittance and CODCr/SV30 ratio of the spent metalworking fluids were 80.21%, 40.00%, 95.20% and 128.33 mg/mL, respectively. This combined metal ion demulsification method possessed an advantageous minimization of spent metalworking fluids, which greatly benefited the automobile parts workshops in cutting down the operating cost in environmental protection.

Stability Dynamic Characteristic of Oil-in-Water Emulsion from Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer Flooding

The relationship model between the droplet lifetime and interface properties is established to characterize the stability of oil droplets, and then, the influence of the alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) concentration on the lifetime is analyzed by theoretical calculations. The stability dynamic characteristics of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions from ASP flooding were evaluated using the emulsion stability model (Civan model) based on two-phase separation. The effect of ASP on dynamic characteristics of the emulsion was explored by analyzing film strength qualitatively and measuring interfacial tension and ζ potential. The results showed that the Civan model was suitable to evaluate the stability of the O/W emulsion and to obtain the corresponding dynamic characteristics. The O/W emulsions became more stable with the increasing alkali concentration first at a low alkali concentration (c _NaOH < 200 mg/L) and then became less stable with the increasing alkali concentration at a high alkali concentration (c _NaOH > 200 mg/L). The stabilities of O/W emulsions were improved with the increasing concentrations of the surfactant and polymer. The mechanism of stabilization of the O/W emulsion by ASP is as follows. The surface-active substances formed by the reaction of alkali and acidic substances in the oil phase, together with surfactants, adsorb at the oil-water interface, reducing the interfacial tension and increasing the strength of the oil-water interface film. The polymer only increases the strength of the interface film by increasing the viscoelasticity of the oil-water interface film.

A durable superwetting clusters-inlayed mesh with high efficiency and flux for emulsion separation

How to rapidly and efficiently separate surfactant-stabilized emulsions has been a great challenge for oil/water separation materials. In this work, a durable superwetting copper mesh with high efficiency and flux for gravity-driven emulsion separation was fabricated by subtly inlaying polydopamine/polyethyleneimine@aminated carbon nanotubes (PDA/PEI@CNTs-NH₂) clusters in the mesh pores. The porous clusters with abundant cationic groups render the mesh with superwettability, submicron permeation channels and positive charges, so as to achieve strong demulsification ability. Based on the superwettability and the strong demulsification ability, the PDA/PEI@CNTs-NH₂ clusters-inlayed copper mesh (PPC-CM) exhibited high separation efficiency of over 99.5% for various anionic surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. Meanwhile, the permeation flux of PPC-CM solely driven by gravity is as high as 3946.3 L m^-2 h^-1. The strong demulsification ability and high permeation flux of the superwetting mesh are due to the synergistic action of charge-screening effect of -NH³⁺ and size-sieving effect of optimized pore size. Furthermore, the resultant mesh exhibited excellent durability that it could resist serious physical abrasion and chemical corrosion. Especially the mesh after repeated separation can recover its positive charge by a simple acid treatment. These excellent performances highlight the superwetting mesh a promising potential for sustainable separation of highly stabilized oil/water emulsions.