Durable, cost-effective and superhydrophilic chitosan-alginate hydrogel-coated mesh for efficient oil/water separation

Yuqi Li; Hui Zhang; Cen Ma; Hao Yin; Lingzhu Gong; Yihshing Duh; Ren Feng

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115279

Durable, cost-effective and superhydrophilic chitosan-alginate hydrogel-coated mesh for efficient oil/water separation

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Dec 15:226:115279. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115279. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Authors

Yuqi Li¹, Hui Zhang², Cen Ma³, Hao Yin⁴, Lingzhu Gong¹, Yihshing Duh³, Ren Feng³

Affiliations

¹ College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China; Institute of Chemical Safety, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China.
² College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China. Electronic address: Huizhang@fafu.edu.cn.
³ College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China.
⁴ College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.

PMID: 31582078
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115279

Abstract

Hydrogels with low-adhesive superoleophobicity are ideal candidates for modifying filtration substrates to achieve efficient and antifouling oil/water separation. However, there are still some unfavorable factors hindering their practical application, including expensive raw materials, complex fabrication process, poor stability and durability. In this work, a durable, cost-effective and superhydrophilic chitosan-alginate (CS-ALG) hydrogel coated mesh was developed by a facile, two-step dip-coating method for efficient oil/water separation in hypersaline environments. By integrating polysaccharide-based superhydrophobic surfaces and the hierarchical micro-/nanostructures, the as-fabricated CS-ALG hydrogel coated mesh exhibits excellent underwater superoleophobicity and anti-oil-fouling performance. Benefiting from that, the mesh could separate various oil/water mixtures with high separation efficiency (> 99%). It is worth mentioning that the double-cross-linked CS-ALG hydrogel based on sequential electrostatic interaction and ionic cross-linking shows excellent durability in hypersaline environments. All these attractive advantages make the hydrogel-coated mesh a promising candidate for oily wastewater treatment and oil spill cleanup.

Keywords: Alginate; Chitosan; Hydrogel; Oil/water separation; Underwater superoleophobicity.