Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150367
Title: Engineering a superwetting thin film nanofibrous composite membrane with excellent antifouling and self-cleaning properties to separate surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions
Authors: Tian, Miao
Liao, Yuan
Wang, Rong
Keywords: Engineering::Environmental engineering
Issue Date: 2019
Source: Tian, M., Liao, Y. & Wang, R. (2019). Engineering a superwetting thin film nanofibrous composite membrane with excellent antifouling and self-cleaning properties to separate surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. Journal of Membrane Science, 596, 117721-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117721
Journal: Journal of Membrane Science 
Abstract: In recent years, novel superwetting membranes have gained popularity for oily wastewater treatments via synergy between surface chemistry and topography. However, the water fluxes of the superwetting membranes normally decrease rapidly due to pore clogging and surface fouling, especially when treating surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. Herein, a facile strategy is proposed to develop a superwetting thin film nanofibrous composite (TFNC) membrane with remarkable antifouling and self-cleaning properties to effectively separate surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions. The membrane is composed of an ultrathin carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite skin layer, and a highly porous electrospun nanofibrous substrate as well as a non-woven mechanical support. The robust three-dimensional (3D) CNTs composite skin layer were immobilized on the nanofibrous substrate surface by crosslinking the CNTs with PVA. This skin layer serves as a functional barrier to reject oil droplets, which exhibited excellent performance in treating surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with a rejection of 95% and a competitive flux of ~60 Lm−2h−1 under an ultra-low pressure (20 kPa) in a cross-flow filtration process. Moreover, the CNTs composite layer also protects the membrane surface from fouling. The TFNC membrane possesses outstanding reusability, as the water flux could be recovered by 100% in a continuous cyclic operation without cleaning, which should be attributed to the underwater oil repellence of its superhydrophilic surface and self-cleaning property based on the capillary pumping effect occurred in the micron/nano-channels of the membrane surface.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150367
ISSN: 0376-7388
DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117721
Schools: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering 
Research Centres: Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute 
Singapore Membrane Technology Centre 
Rights: © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This paper was published in Journal of Membrane Science and is made available with permission of Elsevier B.V.
Fulltext Permission: open
Fulltext Availability: With Fulltext
Appears in Collections:CEE Journal Articles
NEWRI Journal Articles

SCOPUSTM   
Citations 10

52
Updated on Mar 26, 2024

Web of ScienceTM
Citations 10

43
Updated on Oct 29, 2023

Page view(s)

245
Updated on Mar 29, 2024

Download(s) 50

69
Updated on Mar 29, 2024

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Plumx

Items in DR-NTU are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.