Tailoring electrospun nanofibrous materials for oil/water emulsion separation

Abstract

The pollution arising from emulsified oil/water mixtures is an issue of great concern owing to its fatal impact on the ecosystems and human health, which has stimulated one to develop advanced separation materials. Electrospun nanofibrous materials featured with controllable wettability, diverse pore structures, and excellent pore connectivity have received tremendous attention. Here we mainly focus on the systematic design and construction of nanofibrous materials by electrospinning for oil/water emulsion separation. Firstly, a comprehensive understanding of emulsion separation is provided, and then we discuss the considerations for nanofibrous materials to realize emulsion separation. Then, the materials will be categorized into three types, involving membranes with small pore size, membranes with hierarchical fibers, and aerogel with tortuous microchannels. In each section, we introduce the representative work, preparation strategies, and the relationship between fibrous structure, material wettability, and separation performance. Finally, the promising perspectives and challenges in the field are summarized.