Facile, green and scalable preparation of low-cost PET-PVDF felts for oil absorption and oil/water separation

Abstract

3D felt materials with pore structures have the advantages of high absorption performance and recyclability in oily wastewater treatment and chemical leakage. However, most of them were fabricated using either toxic organic solvents or complicated procedures. Herein, we report a facile, green, and scalable route for the fabrication of 3D composite felts with large pore structures by sequentially stirring and heating polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The resulting PET-PVDF felt exhibits high oil absorption capacity to a variety of oil and organic solvents with a maximum saturated absorption capacity of 32 g/g. Additionally, it can be used to separate oil/water mixtures with a separation efficiency of 99.9% and separation flux of 89570 L m−2 h−1. Moreover, this felt shows excellent mechanical durability and chemical stability under acid, base, salt solution, and other harsh environments. The current study provides a promising approach for large-scale industrial oily wastewater separation.