In-situ growth, thermal stable and superhydrophobic polyester fabric membrane composited with α-zirconium phosphate for oil-water separation

Abstract

Polyester fabric membrane was firstly composited with (NH4)2HPO4 through solvent evaporation method, and then α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) nanoparticles were in situ grown on the membrane via an interfacial growing process. Afterwards, the as-prepared membrane was modified by Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS). Morphology and chemical composition of the composited membrane were confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). All the composited membranes exhibited superhydrophobicity when they were modified by OTS, and N0.2ZrP possessed the highest contact angle (CA = 156.3°). The hydrophobicities of the composited membranes were well conserved after treating with acid, alkaline and salinity (all CAs >150°). All the composited membranes exhibited excellent oil/water separation efficiency, while N0.2ZrP demonstrated the highest efficiency of 99.7%, and still remained high efficiency of 99.6% even after 30 cycles of wetting-drying process. This work provided a facile approach for fabricating thermal stable and superhydrophobic composited membrane that lead to high separation efficiency for practical application in oil/water separation.