title: Bio-inspired anti-oil-fouling chitosan-coated mesh for oil/water separation suitable for broad pH range and hyper-saline environments.
abstract: Here, we report a bio-inspired chitosan (CS)-based mesh with high separation efficiency, oil-fouling repellency, and stability in a complex liquid environment. The surface of the CS coating maintains underwater superoleophobicity and low oil adhesion (<1 μN) in pure water and hyper-saline solutions, and it can keep stable special wettability in broad pH range environments after the CS mesh is fully cross-linked with glutaraldehyde and then reduced by sodium borohydride to form a stable carbon-nitrogen single bond. The separation process is solely gravity-driven, and the mesh can separate a range of different oil/water mixtures with >99% separation efficiency in hyper-saline and broad pH range conditions. We envision that such a separation method will be useful in oil spill cleanup and industrial oily wastewater treatment in extreme environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shiyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Changrui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Yen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010578:Petroleum; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D048271:Chitosan; D010578:Petroleum; D062065:Wastewater