Amphiphilic cellulose acetate membrane incorporated with MoS2 nanospheres for oil in water separation

Abstract

In this work, an amphiphilic MoS₂ nanosphere/cellulose acetate (AMC) membrane with a hydrophobic component of MoS₂ nanoparticles and a hydrophilic component of a cellulose acetate (CA) polymer was fabricated and evaluated for oil in water separation. The oil removal performance of the membrane under different initial oil concentration, salt concentration, and pH conditions was investigated by using a filtration assembly. Oil removal efficiencies of 96–99% have been achieved by the AMC membrane under all tested conditions. Results showed that the AMC membrane demonstrated a high pure water flux of 132.2 ± 2 L m⁻² h⁻¹ at an applied pressure of 0.5 bar. An excellent regeneration and recycling ability was confirmed by a water flux recovery of 92.6 ± 1.0% after water flushing, and 98.7 ± 1.0% after chemical cleaning. The fabricated amphiphilic membrane has not only an oleophilic component of MoS₂ nanoparticles which can capture the oil droplets, but also a hydrophilic component of a cellulose acetate polymer allowing water passage. Such a membrane offers synergistic oil removal, high-water permeation and fouling resistance. The amphiphilic MoS₂ nanosphere/cellulose acetate membrane with heterogeneous wettability exhibited great potential for the treatment of industrial oily wastewater and grease-containing wastewater.