On-demand separation of oil-water mixtures.
In this work, the first-ever membrane-based single unit operation that enables gravity driven, on-demand separation of various oil-water mixtures is developed. Using this methodology, the on-demand separation of free oil and water, oil-in-water emulsions, and water-in-oil emulsions is demonstrated, with ≥99.9% separation efficiency. A scaled-up apparatus to separate larger quantities (several liters) of oil-water emulsions is also developed.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Gibum
G
Kwon
Arun K
AK
Kota
Yongxin
Y
Li
Ameya
A
Sohani
Joseph M
JM
Mabry
Anish
A
Tuteja
D000473:Alkanes / Q000737:chemistry; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D000473:Alkanes; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D004655:Emulsions; D009821:Oils; D014867:Water; C013830:baysilon; C007932:n-hexadecane