Underwater superoleophobic mesh with robust Anthurium andraeanum-like attapulgite coating layer for effective oil spill recovery

It is highly desired to develop an efficient and stable approach to recover water from oil-water mixtures. In this work, we reported the facile fabrication of superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic membranes by coating a layer of Anthurium andraeanum-like attapulgite (ARATP) on commercially available wire meshes via sintering. The ARATP was obtained through anchoring nano-Fe 3 O 4 on attapulgite (ATP), and its micro nano-structures can be adjusted by varying Fe 3 O 4 content. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed the benefits of Fe 3 O 4 in constructing superwetting coating layer with oil droplet repulsion larger than 227 KJ·mol −1 . The membrane exhibited underwater superoleophobicity (with underwater oil contact angle at 157°) and was proven to treat various oil-water mixtures effectively (with a water permeation flux above 3249 L·m −2 ·h −1 and oil content in filtrate less than 2 mg·L −1 ). Furthermore, the chemical, mechanical stability and easy-cleaning property of the as-prepared membrane was demonstrated by different tests.