Ultrafast separation of oil/water mixtures with layered double hydroxide coated stainless steel meshes (LDH-SSMs)

Abstract With the frequent discharge of wastewater and leakage of oil accidents, it has gained much attention to treat oil and organic pollutants from water. Herein, a facile and environmentally friendly approach is presented to fabricate MgAlZn layered double hydroxide-coated stainless steel mesh (LDH-SSM) via hydrothermal method, which could be used to separate various oil/water mixtures due to its superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic property. The as-prepared mesh possesses selective separation performance for oil/water mixtures with separation efficiency higher than 99.2% and high water flux of ∼ 44.5 L m-2 s-1 under gravity-driven force. Such membrane shows an effective separation for oil/water mixtures and recyclability, as well as exhibit excellent superhydrophilicity, making it a prominent candidate for oily water remediation.