Spray-assisted LBL assembly of chitosan/nanocellulose as coatings of commercial membranes for oil-in-water emulsion separation

Owing to the limitation of their wettability and pore size, lab filter membranes could not separate oil/water emulsions. Herein, we present surface modification of commercial membranes with chitosan/nanocellulose coatings via a spray-assisted layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly technology. By alternate spraying chitosan (CS) solution and TEMPO-oxidized tunicate cellulose nanofiber (TCNF) suspension, (CS/TCNF)n multilayers were obtained, where n denotes the number of bilayers. The (CS/TCNF)6 coated membrane possessed superhydrophilicity, underwater superoleophobicity, and outperforming anti-oil-fouling properties, which could effectively separate various oil-in-water emulsions. Importantly, the (CS/TCNF)6 coated membrane not only had stable permeate flux with nearly 100 % recovery ratio for the separation of pump oil-in-water emulsion, but also exhibited good harsh-environment-tolerant property. This work provided a novel strategy for designing and preparing stable anti-oil-fouling membranes for oily wastewater treatment.