A Wide-Spectrum Oil/Water Separation Scenario Enhanced by a Chitosan-Based Superwetting Membrane with a Tunable Microstructure and Powerful Photocatalytic Self-Cleaning Capability

Oil spills and industrial oily wastewater pose serious threats to the environment. A series of modified membranes with special wettability have been widely used for separating oil/water mixtures and emulsions. However, these membranes still face challenges such as the detachment of the modified coatings and membrane fouling. Here, a freestanding biobased superwetting nanofibrous membrane for oil/water mixture separation was electrospun with chitosan (CS) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as precursors, followed by chemical cross-linking and in situ growth of β-FeOOH nanoparticles on the surface. Moreover, by precisely controlling both the cross-linking time between CS and PVA and the growth time of β-FeOOH nanoparticles, the nanosize apertures and rough structures on the membrane surface can be regulated toward a wide range of oil/water separation scenarios. As a result, FeOOH@CS/PVA-4-12 demonstrated superwettability, with a water contact angle of 9.5 ± 3.5° in air and an underwater-oil contact angle above 140°, achieving a separation efficiency of 98.5% and a water permeation flux of 2350 L·m^-2·h^-1 for <i>n</i>-heptane/water mixtures. The membrane FeOOH@CS/PVA-24-24 exhibited exceptional oil-in-water emulsion separation performance with a separation efficiency of up to 99.9% for water/<i>n</i>-heptane emulsions. Additionally, the membrane exhibited remarkable antifouling properties, attributed to its superwetting surface and the photocatalytic ability of β-FeOOH nanoparticles. After five photocatalytic self-cleaning cycles, the water permeation flux and separation efficiency remained almost unchanged, demonstrating its great potential for practical application.