Chemistry - A European Journal
Chemistry - A European Journal
5 years ago

Tunable Wettability of Electrospun Polyurethane/Silica Composite Membranes for Effective Separation of Water-in-Oil and Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Tunable Wettability of Electrospun Polyurethane/Silica Composite Membranes for Effective Separation of Water-in-Oil and Oil-in-Water Emulsions
Libin Liu, Gailan Guo, Wenyuan Fang
Polymer-dominated membranes with switchable wettability are highly desired due to their on-demand applications for oil/water separation. Herein, a low-cost methodology to fabricate membranes consisting of hyperbranched polyurethane (HBPU) and fluorine-modified silica (F-SiO2) with tunable wettability by electrospinning is reported. The HBPU/F-SiO2 composite membranes can be transformed from superhydrophobicity to -philicity through plasma treatment; these membranes exhibit different wettability for effective separation of surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions. Creating divisions: Membranes composed of hyperbranched polyurethane (HBPU) and fluorine-modified silica (F-SiO2) with tunable wettability can be prepared through electrospinning. These membranes can be transformed from superhydrophobicity to -philicity through plasma treatment and used for the effective separation of surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions (see figure).

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201701409

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