A bio-based environment-friendly membrane with facile preparation process for oil-water separation

In this study, a novel bio-based environment-friendly membrane for oil-water separation is made via a facile method of coating agarose hydrogel on fabrics. The membrane can separate a range of different oil-water mixtures with > 95% separation efficiency, indicating its high oil-water separation ability. Moreover, the membrane can be easily cleaned and maintain its high oil-water separation performance after 10 separation cycles. As the membrane is made of agarose hydrogel and fabrics, it is biocompatible and eco-friendly. Furthermore, since both the agarose and fabrics are commercially available, the facile preparation process can be scaled up for large-scale production of these oil-water separation membranes with low cost, which is of great benefit in solving the oily wastewater problem.