A novel Pumice@PVA membrane with high separation efficiency for oil-water emulsion application

Abstract

Oil pollution poses a major threat to both human health and economic development, and therefore the development and improvement of oil-water separation technology is urgent. Traditional methods have problems such as complicated preparation, high cost and the vulnerability of lipophilic materials to oil contamination. Therefore, finding an inorganic material that meets the requirements of underwater superoleophobic performance and reduces surface modification has become a new demand. In this study, natural pumice was found for the first time to have excellent underwater superoleophobic performance and chemical stability, and the underwater superoleophobic filter membrane was prepared by vacuum adsorption using hydrogen bond cross-linking between natural pumice and PVA. The experimental data show that the prepared PVA/natural pumice ultrafiltration membrane has superhydrophilic and superoleophobic properties, and exhibits excellent stability (OWA>150°) under the harsh environment of strong acid and strong alkali. In addition, the composite membrane has good emulsion separation efficiency (>97 %) and a separation flux of 39.91 Lm^-2h^-1. It is demonstrated that the composite membrane has oleophobic and wettable properties, and is capable of separating both oil-water mixtures without phase mixing and oil-in-water emulsions without oil contamination. This study provides a new idea for the preparation of superoleophobic materials for oil-water separation, which has the potential for large-scale application.