An environment-friendly polyurethane composite membrane decorated by superhydrophobic modification of TiC as high efficient separator of oil-water emulsion

The exploring of sustainable, durable and superwetting composite nanofiber membrane as efficient separator for oil-water emulsion is one of the biggest challenges in the field of wastewater treatment . Herin, an environment-friendly polyurethane (bio-PU) was synthesized by introducing biodegradable polycaprolactone diol (PCL d ) segments. The superhydrophobic modified titanium carbide nanoparticle (TiC p ) by 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (PFDTS) was decorated on eletrospun bio-PU nanofiber matrix, which could also regulate the microstructure of bio-PU composite membrane . The prepared bio-PU/TiC P membrane displayed superhydrophobicity with WCA of 153.1 ± 1.2°, which attributed to its hierarchical structure composed of nanofibers, microspheres and nanoparticles. Even for oil-water emulsion, the bio-PU/TiC P membrane exhibited the outstanding separation efficiency of 99.65% and high flux of 2464.79 L m −2  h −1 . The bio-PU/TiC P membrane also had the excellent self-cleaning, water repellency and recyclability. These characters endowed it great potential application in sustainable separator.