Rapid and Efficient Separation of Oil from Oil-in-Water Emulsions Using a Janus Cotton Fabric

A novel bi-functional Janus cotton fabric is used to separate oil from oil-in-water emulsions. This fabric is superhydrophobic on one surface and polyamine-bearing on the other. When used as a filter, the polyamine-bearing side causes the micrometer-sized oil droplets to coalesce. The coalesced oil then fills fabric pores on the superhydrophobic side and selectively permeates it. Oil separation using this method is rapid and the separated oil is pure. Furthermore, the content of the model oil hexadecane (HD) in water after a separation can be reduced to less than 0.03 +/- 0.03 vol%. These features demonstrate the practical potential of this technology.