Ni-doped brochantite@copper hydroxide hierarchical structures on copper mesh with ultrahigh oil-resistance for high-efficiency oil/water separation

Design and preparation of materials with superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity are of great significance for high-efficiency oil/water separation. In this work, we prepared Ni-doped [email protected] hydroxide hierarchical structures on copper mesh using chemical oxidation and hydrothermal synthesis, in which the interleaved embedded hydrophilic Ni-doped brochantite nanosheets distributed around copper hydroxide nanoarrays on copper mesh. The Ni-doped [email protected] hydroxide hierarchical structures endowed the mesh with pore size of 10 μm and excellent superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity and ultrahigh oil resistance with great oil rejection (>99.99%) and extremely high flux of 28,543 L m−2 h−1 for various oil-water mixtures. Importantly, the mesh showed excellent cyclic performance for 20 times separation of pump oil/water mixture with stable high flux and oil rejection and survived conspicuous selective affinities to oil and water from harsh conditions. It is indicated that the hierarchical Ni-doped [email protected] hydroxide coated copper mesh (NBCHCM) is a potential membrane material for high-efficient and sustainable oil/water separation.