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Journal of Membrane Science, Vol.547, 156-162, 2018
Polydopamine nanocluster decorated electrospun nanofibrous membrane for separation of oil/water emulsions
Superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic membranes are emerging materials for effective oil/water separation. In this paper, an electrospun nanofibrous (ENF) membrane with hierarchical structures was prepared by the construction of polydopamine nanoclusters onto a cross-linked polyacrylonitrile/hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (PAN/HPEI/PDA) ENF membrane. This hierarchical structure endows the membrane with superhydrophilicity with a low water contact angle of 0 degrees, and underwater superoleophobicity with a high oil contact angle of 162 degrees. This membrane can effectively separate oil/water emulsions with a high permeate flux (similar to 1600 L m(-2) h(-1)) and high oil rejection (similar to 98.5%), solely driven by gravity. Furthermore, the membrane also showed an excellent antifouling ability for oil droplets and recyclability (> 10 cycles), making it a promising candidate for treatment of oily wastewater.