Aminated Silica Modified Polyamide Superhydrophilic Membrane for Oil-water Emulsion Separation

Aminated silica (NH2-SiO2) was loaded onto the surface of polyamide (PA) membrane using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent to prepare aminated silica/polyamide (NH2-SiO2/PA) nanohybrid membrane with superhydrophilic and antibacterial activity. The membranes showed a separation efficiency of more than 98% for oil-water emulsions at high flux (936.2 Lm-2h−1bar−1). Meanwhile, the excellent oil-water emulsion separation capacity was maintained after 20 cycles of recycling. In addition, the inhibition circle of E. coli of the modified membrane was 4 mm. A superhydrophilic membrane with excellent oil-water separation ability and antibacterial effect was prepared by loading aminated silica on the surface of polyamide membrane with glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent for the first time. The separation efficiency of the modified membrane remained above 95% after 20 cycles.