High-Performance Membranes Based on Spherical-Beaded Nanofibers and Nanoarchitectured Networks for Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 24; no. 41; pp. 12806 - 12813
• Main Authors: Li, He, Che, Keyi, Jiang, Pan, Yin, Fei, Li, Zhaoling, Wang, Xianfeng, Yu, Jianyong, Zhang, Shichao, Ding, Bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 02.10.2024
• Subjects: superhydrophobicity; emulsion separation; rough structure; nanofibrous network; electrospinning
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02954

High-performance separation materials for oil–water emulsions are crucial to environmental protection and resource recovery; however, most existing fibrous separation materials are subject to large pore size and low porosity, resulting in limited separation performance. Herein, we create high-performance membranes consisting of spherical-beaded nanofibers and nanoarchitectured networks (nano-nets) using electrostatic spinning/netting technology, for water-in-oil emulsion separation. By manipulating the nonequilibrium stretching of jets, spherical-beaded nanofibers capable of generating a robust microelectric field are fabricated as scaffolds, on which charged droplets are induced to eject and phase separate to self-assemble nano-nets with small pores. Benefiting from 3D undulating networks with cavities originating from 2D nano-nets supported by 1D spherical-beaded nanofibers, the membranes exhibit under-oil superhydrophobicity (>152°), a striking separation performance with an efficiency of >99.2% and a flux of 5775 L m–2 h–1, together with wide pressure applicability, antifouling, and reusability. This work may open up new horizons in developing fibrous materials for separation and purification.