Vertically zeolitic imidazolate framework-L coated mesh with dagger-like structure for oil/water separation

The novel functional superwettable materials for high-efficiency oil/water separation are urgently required due to oil pollution in water body caused by oil tanker accidents, seabed oil production, and oil from refineries and petrochemical plants. Here, the superhydrophobic and superoleophilic zeolitic imidazolate framework-L (ZIF-L) mesh with antimicrobial effect was successfully fabricated by in-situ growth, composed of vertically ZIF-L with micro-/nanodagger-like structure and exhibited the water contact angle of 155.4 ± 1.8° and the oil contact angle of 0° in air. Furthermore, ZIF-L was verified to have an excellent antimicrobial activity, which endowed ZIF-L mesh with good antimicrobial performance. ZIF-L mesh provided a permeation flux with 1.75 × 10 5 L m −2 hr −1 and 99.7% separation efficiency after 10 cycles operations for water mixtures with isooctane and presented optimal stability. Accordingly, the results demonstrated that ZIF-L as a new material shows an attractive applied promise for oil/water separation in industry.