Electrospining Machine: Electrospun SiO2 nanofibres for oil-water separation not good enough? Look at these improvement methods!

Background

Oil spills and oily wastewater from industry and daily life pose a great threat to all living organisms in the ecosystem, while exacerbating the problem of water scarcity, which has developed into a global challenge. One-dimensional (1D) SiO2 nanofibres (SNFs) have become one of the most widely used inorganic nanomaterials in the past due to their stable chemical properties, excellent biocompatibility and high temperature resistance.

Based on this, Associate Professor Wang Yanxin, Professor Huang Linjun and Professor Tang Jianguo of Qingdao University published a paper entitled ‘Improvement strategies for oil/water separation’ in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. The review entitled ‘Improvement strategies for oil/water separation based on electrospun SiO2 nanofibers’ was published in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, introducing the improvement strategies for oil/water separation based on SiO2Electrospun Nanofibers.

The main points of this paper

1.This study systematically reviews the research progress of Electrospun Nanofbers from different aspects.

2. Firstly, the basic principles of electrospun SNFs are introduced, and then the structural design of various SNFs is highlighted, and the corresponding performance improvement strategies are proposed.

3. Finally, the challenges faced by electrospun SNFs in the field of oil-water separation are analysed, and the future development direction of electrospun SNFs is summarized and prospected.

Due to their unique properties such as high porosity, large specific surface area, and excellent chemical and thermal stability, SNFs show great potential in oil-water separation, and the applications of SNFs in oil-water separation are as follows:

 1. Membrane filtration: 

Due to their high porosity and small pore size, SNFs can be used as membrane filters for separating oil and water, exhibiting high separation efficiency and good resistance to fouling.

2. Adsorption:

 SNFs can be used as adsorption materials to remove oil from water. They have high oil absorption capacity and good reusability.

3. Coagulation:

SNFs can be used as coagulation materials to promote the coagulation of oil droplets, thus facilitating their separation from water. SNFs offer a number of advantages over other materials and technologies, such as high thermal stability, good chemical resistance and excellent fouling resistance.

They also have a large specific surface area and can be easily functionalised to enhance their separation properties.

In this paper, various improvement strategies are proposed to enhance the performance of SNFs in oil-water separation, including the following two main aspects:

1. Improvement of mechanical properties:

SNFs have poor mechanical properties and are prone to fracture and deformation. In order to improve this problem, various methods can be used, such as adding reinforcing agents, changing spinning process parameters, and preparing multilayer structures.

2. Improvement of oil resistance:

SNFs are easily contaminated by oil in oil-water separation, which affects their separation efficiency and stability. In order to improve this problem, various methods can be used, such as surface modification and addition of functional materials.

Through these improvement strategies, the performance of SNFs in oil-water separation can be improved and their application range can be expanded

Originallink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2023.09.196