Rapid preparation of Ni/Fe-LDH@ stainless steel mesh with interfacial emulsion breaking effect for efficient oil-in-water emulsion separation

Oil-water separation materials are particularly important for today's polluted water, especially the easy preparation of separation materials and the efficient separation of emulsions. The excellent properties of layered double hydroxide (LDH) have led to its successful application in the field of oil-water separation, but most of the existing studies have used high-temperature and long-time hydrothermal methods for the growth of LDH. Here, we present a stainless-steel mesh material for the preparation of LDH by electrochemical methods, which can be prepared in a few minutes, greatly improving the production efficiency. Adjusting the electrodeposition time of LDH can well regulate the aperture of the stainless-steel mesh to realize the sieving of emulsion droplets, in addition, the positive charge of LDH is helpful to promote the rupture of emulsion droplets and improve the emulsion separation efficiency. The separation efficiency of this rapidly prepared separation material for oil-in-water emulsions was stabilized at more than 99.3%. In addition, the preparation with low energy consumption is more in line with the concept of green development and more conducive to practical applications.