Purification of oil-containing emulsified wastewater via PAN nanofiber membrane loading PVP-UiO-66-NH2

Oil-containing emulsion pollution seriously endangers the ecological environment and human health, and it is urgent to solve the problem of oil-containing emulsion pollution. In membrane separation technology, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are being widely used to enhance the wettability of the membrane surface and separation efficiency. Here, electrospinning technics and the outstanding wetting properties of MOF are combined to improve the separation performance of oil-containing emulsions. PVP chains were successfully grafted on Zr-O clusters of UiO-66-NH2 to prepare PVP-UiO-66-NH2 nanoparticles, which were then loaded on the PAN nanofiber substrate with microspheres/fine fibers prepared by a continuous electrospinning-electrospray process. The result shows that the PAN nanofiber substrate loaded with 0.5 wt% PVP-UiO-66-NH2 has the best separation efficiency and stable anti-fouling ability for different kinds of oil-in-water surfactant stabilized emulsions (TOC = 11.6 mg/L, R = 99.2% FRR = 94.4% for n-hexane-water emulsion). Therefore, the constructed nanofiber membrane is the favorable candidate for the efficient separation of oil-containing emulsions.