Oily wastewater treatment by super-wettable mesh membrane coated with hexagonal ZnO

The efficient separation of oil and water is crucial for the treatment of oily wastewater in environmental remediation efforts. Our study introduces a superhydrophilic mesh created through several steps, including seed layer application, hexagonal ZnO growth via chemical bath deposition, and subsequent calcination. This unique structure grants the membrane exceptional superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, enabling efficient oil-water separation. Furthermore, the membrane coated with hexagonal ZnO exhibited a water-in-air contact angle of zero, indicating its superhydrophilic properties. Additionally, it displayed an underwater contact angle of 166 o with n-hexane oil, demonstrating its superoleophobicity properties underwater. The SSM/HxZnO membrane demonstrates high separation efficiency (>98.9%), under gravity ultrahigh flux (>76,000 L.m-2.h-1), and excellent recycling stability, maintaining efficiency above 91% even after 15 cycles. Additionally, it shows remarkable chemical stability, offering significant promise for oily wastewater treatment.

Oily wastewater treatment by super-wettable mesh membrane coated with hexagonal ZnO Keywords:

oil-water mixture , wettability , Superhydrophilicity , stainless steel mesh