Abstract
This review is devoted to the application of bulk synthetic polymers such as polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for the separation of oil-water emulsions. Due to the high hydrophobicity of the presented polymers and their tendency to be contaminated with water-oil emulsions, methods for the hydrophilization of membranes based on them were analyzed: the mixing of polymers, the introduction of inorganic additives, and surface modification. In addition, membranes based on natural hydrophilic materials (cellulose and its derivatives) are given as a comparison.
Highlights
The exploration, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil are always associated with the separation of water-oil mixtures as the primary stage of oil refining or due to the accidents resulting in the oil spilling
This review is devoted to the application of bulk synthetic polymers such as polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for the separation of oil-water emulsions
The complete cleaning of water from the presence of the oil is complicated by the formation of oil-water emulsions, which become more stable due to the presence of different components in the oil or to water acting as emulsifiers such as asphaltenes, resins, mineral salts, clay particles, etc
Summary
The exploration, production, transportation, and refining of crude oil are always associated with the separation of water-oil mixtures as the primary stage of oil refining or due to the accidents resulting in the oil spilling. The hydrophilization of the surface and/or bulk of the membrane can be considered as a perspective approach to reduce the contamination of commercial membranes made of bulk polymers Bearing this in mind, this review is devoted to the production of membranes for the separation of oil-water emulsions based on commercial synthetic polymers (PSf, PES, PVDF, PAN) by the phase-inversion method. The incorporation of inorganic particles into the polymer matrix turns out to be ineffective due to the fact that most of them remain “turned off” from the surface separation process, and the application of a surface layer usually leads to a significant decrease in permeability In this regard, there is no universal approach to the modification of membranes intended for the separation of water-oil emulsions.
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