title: Superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate)-grafted glass fiber filters for oil-water separation.
abstract: Oil-water separation is a major problem in industries such as oil production and wastewater treatment, where millions of gallons of oil-contaminated water are produced. Zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (pSBMA) is a superhydrophilic polymer due to its strong interaction with water via electrostatic interactions. By coating surfaces of filter media with such a superhydrophilic polymer, it is expected that one can effectively separate oil and water. In this work, pSBMA was grafted onto glass fiber surfaces using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The in-air water contact angle of the pSBMA-treated glass was 8-15°, as compared to 31° for the control untreated glass, whereas the underwater-oil contact angle of the pSBMA-grafted glass was 162-169°, as compared to 142° for the control pristine glass, suggesting that the pSBMA-grafted glass slides are superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic. Such superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity were realized by modifying surface chemistry only, with no need to create rough surfaces. The pSBMA-grafted glass fiber filters demonstrated exceptional results at separating oil from water without even allowing miniscule amounts of visible oil to permeate through.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Akron , Akron, Ohio 44325, United States.
authors.forename: Qingsheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ankit A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu