One-Step Coating toward Multifunctional Applications: Oil/Water Mixtures and Emulsions Separation and Contaminants Adsorption

Here, a method that can simultaneously separate oil/water mixtures and remove water-soluble contaminants has been developed. Various substrates with different pore size were coated by polydopamine and polyethylenepolyamine codeposition films. The as-prepared materials were superhydrophilic and under-water superoleophobic. The materials can separate a range of different oil/water mixtures (including immiscible oil/water mixtures and surfactant-stabilized emulsions) in a single unit operation, with >99.6% separation efficiency and high fluxes. Copper ion and methyl blue can be effectively absorbed from water when it permeates through the materials. This method can be applied on organic and inorganic substrates and used in preparing large-scale product. Therefore, the simple and facile method has excellent potential in practical application and creates a new field for oil/water separation materials with multifunctional applications.