Smart membranes for oil/water emulsions separation: A review

Panchan Dansawad; Yujie Yang; Xin Li; Xiaopeng Shang; Yanxiang Li; Zhiwei Guo; Yashi Qing; Shengyong Zhao; Siming You; Wangliang Li

Advanced Membranes (Jan 2022)

Smart membranes for oil/water emulsions separation: A review

Panchan Dansawad,
Yujie Yang,
Xin Li,
Xiaopeng Shang,
Yanxiang Li,
Zhiwei Guo,
Yashi Qing,
Shengyong Zhao,
Siming You,
Wangliang Li

Affiliations

Panchan Dansawad: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Yujie Yang: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Xin Li: Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, 637141, Singapore
Xiaopeng Shang: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore
Yanxiang Li: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
Zhiwei Guo: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Yashi Qing: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Shengyong Zhao: Henan Chemical Industry Research Institute Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou, 450052, China
Siming You: James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
Wangliang Li: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 2
p. 100039

Abstract

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Oily wastewater poses a significant impact on both environments and human societies. Especially, the treatment of oil/water emulsions for separating oil from water is challenging due to the high stability of oil/water emulsions. Smart membranes, known as stimuli-responsive membranes, are one of the emerging technologies that have been paid wide attention for separating oil/water emulsions in recent years. Smart membranes possess the unique features of switchable wettability between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity after being triggered by external stimuli and have desired anti-fouling properties. This review summarizes the development of smart membranes for oil/water emulsions separation during the past five years (2018 – present). It was found that solvent stimuli-responsive membranes are the most popular type of smart membranes for oil/water emulsions separation. For multi-stimuli-responsive membranes that can respond to more than one stimulus, future research should focus on developing appropriate fabrication strategies to increase the separation and anti-fouling performances of the membranes. Additionally, surface coating, surface grafting, and copolymer blending are the most popular methods for smart membranes fabrication. However, these methods might not be universally applicable to the different types of stimuli-responsive membranes.

Published in Advanced Membranes

ISSN: 2772-8234 (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology: Chemical engineering
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/advanced-membranes/

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