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 Fe 3 O 4 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.