Dual-layer copper mesh for integrated oil-Water separation and water purification

Abstract

One of the major environmental issues is water quality deterioration caused by the discharge of both insoluble and soluble organic pollutants, which affect human beings’ health enormously. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop a versatile material to remove the organic pollutants from water. However, such materials capable of both efficiently separating insoluble oil and organic solvent from water and photodegrading soluble organic pollutions are rare on the market. Here, we report a facile method to fabricate a dual-layer copper mesh (DCM) by overlaying a graphene oxide (GO)/AgBr-coated mesh onto an Ag-coated mesh. The key point in this study is to integrate the superhydrophobic Ag-coated mesh and photocatalytic GO/AgBr-coated mesh, resulting in the bifunctional DCM with both excellent oil/water separation performance and efficient photodegradation of soluble organic pollutants under visible light illumination. Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the fabrication process is simple and cost-effective without using any sophisticated equipment, which permits a scale-up of DCM for water purification. Hence, the bifunctional and easily prepared properties make it an ideal candidate for encouraging application in oil/water separation and water pollutants photodegradation.