Upcycling Waste Pine nut Shell Membrane for Highly Efficient Separation of Crude Oil-in-Water Emulsion

Discharge of oily sewage and frequent oil spills have caused serious harm to human production, life, and ecological environment. Due to the presence of a large number of surfactants in water, these oil-water mixtures are easy to form oil-in-water emulsion, which is difficult to separate by traditional methods. At the same time, the water-soluble pollutants such as dyes and heavy metal ions in oily wastewater also cause grea tharm to the human body and the environment. A pine nut shell is a kind of commondomestic waste material. Herein, an underwater superoleophobic pine nut shell membrane(PNSM) was prepared by the simple pumpingfiltration method, which realized theseparation of oil-in-water emulsion and adsorption of dyes and heavy metal ions. In addition, thefilter membrane can be used for separating corrosive emulsions of strongacid, strong alkali, and 3.5% NaCl solutions (simulated seawater). Besides, the PNSM showed excellent toughness and flexibility. Due to the abovementioned performance, this cost-efficient and environmentally friendly membrane can be a promising candidate for multifunctional oily water remediation.

Automated summary

The discharge of oily sewage and frequent oil spills have caused serious harm to human production, life, and the ecological environment. The presence of surfactants in water makes oil-water mixtures form oil-in-water emulsions which are difficult to separate using traditional methods. The oily wastewater containing water-soluble pollutants like dyes and heavy metal ions also poses great harm to human health and the environment. A cost-efficient and environmentally friendly underwater superoleophobic pine nut shell membrane (PNSM) was prepared, which allows the separation of oil-in-water emulsion and adsorption of dyes and heavy metal ions. The PNSM also showed excellent toughness and flexibility, making it a promising candidate for multifunctional oily water remediation.