An anti-oil-fouling and robust superhydrophilic MnCo2O4 coated stainless steel mesh for ultrafast oil/water mixtures separation

Abstract Developing novel superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic oil/water separation membrane with ultra-high flux and high separation efficiency has important theoretical and practical significance for oily wastewater treatment. In this work, a completely inorganic MnCo2O4 coated stainless steel mesh (MnCo2O4-SSM) was fabricated via a facile hydrothermal-annealing method. The microstructures and strong water affinity of MnCo2O4 endow the stainless steel mesh excellent superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity and oil/water separation performance. The MnCo2O4-SSM exhibits superior anti-oil-fouling property, high-efficiency oil/water separation ability (>99.9%), ultrahigh flux (>63 L·m−2·s−1) and excellent recycling stability. Furthermore, the mesh shows excellent mechanical and chemical stabilities and long-term durability.