Issue 4, 2017

Fabrication of superhydrophobic polycaprolactone/beeswax electrospun membranes for high-efficiency oil/water separation

Abstract

In this work, a novel superhydrophobic, superoleophilic electrospun nanofibrous membrane of beeswax and polycaprolactone has been successfully fabricated. The prepared membrane can separate oil from contaminated water with high separation efficiency and good recyclability. The hybrid membrane containing 25 wt% beeswax (PCL–25BW) possesses superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of about 153° ± 2. PCL–25BW membrane exhibited high oil sorption capacity of 16.95–31.05 g g−1 in different oils. Moreover, it also showed high potential for gravity driven oil–water separation with 98.1% separation efficiency. PCL–25BW membrane exhibits reusability after 15 cycles of oil sorption and gravity driven oil–water separation. The developed membrane showed an increase in tensile strength after oil sorption and environmental durability in harsh conditions such as UV exposure and pH. This work introduced a new idea to fabricate oil–water separation membranes from beeswax, which have potential in industrial oily waste water and oil spill cleanup.

Graphical abstract: Fabrication of superhydrophobic polycaprolactone/beeswax electrospun membranes for high-efficiency oil/water separation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Nov 2016
Accepted
26 Nov 2016
First published
12 Jan 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 2092-2102

Fabrication of superhydrophobic polycaprolactone/beeswax electrospun membranes for high-efficiency oil/water separation

R. C. R., S. P. Sundaran, J. A. and S. Athiyanathil, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 2092 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA26123J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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