Deacetylated Cellulose Acetate/Polyurethane Composite Nanofiber Membranes with Highly Efficient Oil/Water Separation and Excellent Mechanical Properties

Nowadays, oil pollution has become more serious, which causes great threats both to the ecological environment and human life. In this study, a novel type of multifunctional deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyurethane (d-M-CA:M-TPU) composite nanofiber membranes for oil/water separation are successfully fabricated by electrospinning, which show super-amphiphilicity in air, super-hydrophilicity in oil, and oleophobicity in water. All the d-M-CA:M-TPU composite nanofiber membranes with different mass ratios can be used as water-removing, oil-removing, and emulsion separation substance only by gravity driving force. The highest separation flux for water and oil reaches up to 37 000 and 74 000 L m(-2) h(-1), respectively, and all the separation efficiencies are more than 99%. They have outstanding comprehensive mechanics performance, which can be controlled by simply adjusting the mass ratios. They show excellent antifouling and self-cleaning ability, endowing powerful cyclic stability and reusability. Those results show that d-M-CA:M-TPU composite nanofiber membranes have great application prospects in oil/water separation.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel type of multifunctional deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyurethane composite nanofiber membranes for oil/water separation were successfully fabricated by electrospinning. These membranes show super-amphiphilicity in air, super-hydrophilicity in oil, and oleophobicity in water, with high separation flux and efficiency. They also exhibit outstanding mechanical performance, antifouling, and self-cleaning ability, indicating great application prospects in oil/water separation.