Recent developments of carbon based nanomaterials and membranes for oily wastewater treatment

Membrane technology has been acknowledged as an advanced separation process of surfactant-stabilized emulsions with allowable discharge quality and a relatively simple process. Despite these unique advantages, the real application of using membranes in industrial fields for treating oily wastewater remains limited. The major problem is severe membrane fouling caused by surfactant adsorption and/or pore plugging by oil droplets as well as degradation over long term application due to its polymeric based structure. In this regard, carbon-based membrane technology has been considered as an attractive technique to fill the gap between membrane technology and existing oily wastewater treatment. This review places a main focus on the recent advances of nanomaterials and carbon-based nanocomposite membrane development for effectively treating emulsified oil/water mixtures. There are four sections in this review. First, a general and brief introduction of the oily wastewater treatment undertaken and the needs of an efficient and broadly applicable approach for the effective separation of various emulsified oily wastewater are given. Secondly, a general overview on research breakthroughs by using various nanomaterials to enhance oily wastewater treatment is provided. This is followed by a review on the current developments of carbon based nanomaterials, nanofibers and membranes based on their fabrication, characterization and separation performance. Some challenges facing the development of carbon based membranes for treating industrial oily wastewater are highlighted at the end of the review.