Superhydrophobic electrospun carbon nanofiber membrane decorated by surfactant-assisted in-situ growth of ZnO for oil–water separation

Currently, the exploration and usage of superhydrophobic electrospun carbon nanofiber membrane is still an extremely important strategy for oily wastewater treatment. In this paper, the method of surfactant-assisted in-situ growth of ZnO nanorods and fluoridated modification are combined to prepare a novel superhydrophobic and superoleophilic electrospun carbon nanofiber membrane with rod-shaped ZnO nanostructure and low surface energy for the separation of oily wastewater. The obtained superhydrophobic F-ZnO@CF-SDS membrane with favorable water contact angle (WCA, 163.5°) has a remarkable oil flux (3531 L/(m2·h)). Meanwhile, the separation efficiency of F-ZnO@CF-SDS membrane for oily wastewater is kept above 99 % after multiple cycles separation, corresponding to the satisfactory recyclability. In addition, F-ZnO@CF-SDS membrane shows the excellent environmental stability in different conditions (such as UV irradiation, high and low temperatures, organic and salt solvents etc). These outstanding properties evidence that the F-ZnO@CF-SDS membrane is a broad promising candidate for treating oily wastewater.