3D printing titanium dioxide-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (TiO2-ABS) composite membrane for efficient oil/water separation

The oily water treatment is becoming one of the hottest topics due to that increase of offshore oil transportation and the various accident oil leakages. In this study, a functional TiO2-ABS composite membrane was generated through the three-dimensional (3D) printing strategy for the first time and was conducted to simulated oily water treatment. The TiO2-ABS composite membrane demonstrated a significant promotion in hydrophilicity and oleophobicity which were evidenced by the water contact angle of 14.8° and the underwater oil contact angle of 144.7°, respectively. The optimal modified membrane had both exceedingly high flux (1.8 × 105 L m-2·h-1) and oil rejection rate (99.5%). Moreover, the results of filtration cycles of 10 days and extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory demonstrated that the modified membranes took possession of excellent stability and antifouling property. What was more, the TiO2-ABS composite membrane revealed over 99% rejection to all five types of oil/water systems. The interestingly experimental results indicated that the prepared membrane possessed a broad development trend and application prospect in the field of oily water treatment.