One-Pot Fabrication of Superhydrophilic/Underwater Superoleophobic Membrane Based on Mussel-Inspired Chemistry for High-Efficiency Oil-Water Separation

Abstract

Membrane separation technology is attracting a broad spectrum of attention because of its low energy consumption and superior availability in oily wastewater treatment. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes play an important role in membrane separation field. Herein, a kind of superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic nanoparticles modified PVDF membrane based on mussel-inspired chemistry was prepared via a one-pot method. This method applied the Michael addition/Schiff base reactions between dopamine (DA) and alkoxy hydrolysis of (3-Aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS). The water contact angle (WCA) decreased from 117∘ to 12.6∘ after the modification. The resultant superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic membrane exhibited the outstanding water flux (12280.4[Formula: see text]L m[Formula: see text] h[Formula: see text] bar[Formula: see text], which was a sixfold increment compared to Pristine PVDF. Besides, the resultant membranes showed the effective separation of various oil–water emulsions [Formula: see text], and a high recoverability in multiple-iterations presented the membrane possessing the performance of persistent separation. With the simplicity of one-pot method preparation, outstanding performance, and environmental friendliness, this work provided a potential strategy to large-scale modified membrane materials for the treatment of oily wastewater.