A robust and repairable copper-based superhydrophobic microfiltration membrane for high-efficiency water-in-oil emulsion separation

The micro-/nanohierarchical super-wetting filter materials with low energy consumption, low-cost and highefficiency have attracted tremendous attention. Moreover, traditional emulsion separation materials based on micro-/nanohierarchical structure are easy to be irreversibly damaged due to poor mechanical properties. In this work, a copper-based superhydrophobic microfiltration membrane was fabricated based on simple spraying process and short time self-assemble surface modification method. Only driven by gravity, the membranes maintained excellent water-in-oil emulsion separation performance with the efficiency higher than 99.975%, even after 10 separation cycles, the efficiency is still higher than 99.95%. After 50 sandpaper abrasion cycles, the membranes still displayed excellent separation efficiency through a simple re-modification process. The superhydrophobic microfiltration membranes also had the ability to resist acid and alkali. Robust and copper-based superhydrophobic microfiltration membranes with reversible repair property provide new ideas for the selection of stable emulsion separation materials, and have more advantages and potentials in practical applications.

Automated summary

This study developed superhydrophobic microfiltration membranes with low energy consumption, low cost, and high efficiency, which demonstrated excellent separation performance for water-in-oil emulsion even after multiple cycles and abrasion tests.