Fabrication of magnetically responsive anti-fouling and easy-cleaning nanofiber membrane and its application for efficient oil-water emulsion separation

The magnetically responsive anti-fouling nanofiber membrane (MRANM) was fabricated for efficient oil-water emulsion separation, which could be cleaned using oscillating magnetic field. MRANM was prepared by grafting superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto the surface of electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane (PANM). Compared with PANM, the water contact angle of MRANM decreased from 104° to 0°, indicating that the hydrophilicity of the membrane was significantly improved. For the emulsions of hexadecane, octane and rapeseed oil, the separation efficiency was 98.04%, 96.59% and 92.67%, respectively. After the treatments in oscillating magnetic field, the separation efficiency kept above 95% after 8 times recycling, which indicated that the MRANM had good regenerability and reusability. The as-fabricated membrane with magnetic responsiveness facilitated an effective method for solving the membrane fouling problem during practical applications of separation high viscosity oil-water emulsion.