Fabrication of acrylamide decorated superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes for oil/water emulsion separation

• Published in: Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers Vol. 95; pp. 300 - 307
• Main Authors: Liu, Siwei, Zhou, Zhiping, Zhou, Shi, Cui, Jiuyun, Wang, Qingqing, Zhang, Yufeng, Lang, Jihui, Yan, Yongsheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.02.2019
• Subjects: High flux; Oil/water separation; PVDF membrane; Superhydrophilic; Underwater superoleophobic; High flux; Underwater superoleophobic; Oil/water separation; PVDF membrane; Superhydrophilic
• ISSN: 1876-1070; 1876-1089
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtice.2018.07.015

•The water flux of PVDF/Al2O3 hybrid membrane was greatly improved.•The "needle-shaped" PAM on the membrane surface increases roughness.•The modified membrane has superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity.•The flux recovery rate of PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membrane is exceeded 83%. Here we have successfully fabricated the superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membranes by constructed "needle-shaped" PAM on the PVDF/Al2O3 hybrid membranes surface through ATRP technology. The modified membranes were characterized by the Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) that the AIP has been hydrolyzed to Al2O3 and AM has successfully polymerized on the membrane surface. When the PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membranes were applied in oil/water emulsion separation, the separation efficiencies were more than 99.1% and the maximum flux of the emulsion was 5874L/ m/2/h/bar. In the anti-fouling performance experiment, the flux recovery ration (FRR) of the PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membranes could still reach 83.46% after eight cycles. Therefore, the PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membranes have high separation efficiency and high flux performance for separating oil-water emulsions, and steadily anti-oil performance is suitable for practical applications. [Display omitted] Schematic illustration of preparation of the PVDF/Al2O3/PAM membrane, underwater-oil CA on the surface of different membranes, and optical microscopy images of the emulsion before and after filtration.