Antimicrobial cellulose paper tuned with chitosan fibers for high-flux oil/water separation

Hao Ling; Lei Wang; Qixuan Lin; Quanbo Huang; Xiaoqian Zhang; Junli Ren; Ning Li; Cheng Zhou; Zhiwei Lin; Jingpeng Zhou; Wenguang Wei; Xiaohui Wang

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120794

Antimicrobial cellulose paper tuned with chitosan fibers for high-flux oil/water separation

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Jul 15:312:120794. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120794. Epub 2023 Mar 9.

Authors

Hao Ling¹, Lei Wang², Qixuan Lin¹, Quanbo Huang¹, Xiaoqian Zhang¹, Junli Ren¹, Ning Li³, Cheng Zhou³, Zhiwei Lin⁴, Jingpeng Zhou⁵, Wenguang Wei⁵, Xiaohui Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: felwang@scut.edu.cn.
³ Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁵ Shandong Huatai Paper Company Limited, Dongying 257335, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Shandong Huatai Paper Company Limited, Dongying 257335, China. Electronic address: fewangxh@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 37059534
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120794

Abstract

Separating films with both high efficiency and large flux are desperately needed to meet the rising demand for the treatment of oily wastewater, while traditional oil/water separation papers with high separation efficiency usually suffered from low flux due to the unsuitable size of filtration pores. Herein, we report a bio-based porous, superhydrophobic, and antimicrobial hybrid cellulose paper with tunable porous structures for high flux oil/water separation. The size of pores in the hybrid paper can be tuned by both physical supports provided by the chitosan fibers and the chemical shielding supplied by the hydrophobic modification. The hybrid paper with increased porosity (20.73 μm; 35.15 %) and excellent antibacterial properties can efficiently separate a wide range of oil/water mixtures, solely by gravity, with outstanding flux (maximum of 23,692.69 L m^-2 h^-1), tiny oil interception, and high efficiency of over 99 %. This work provides new sights in the development of durable and low-cost functional papers for rapid and efficient oil/water separation.

Keywords: Antimicrobial; Cellulose; Chitosan; Oil/water separation; Porous paper; Superhydrophobic.