Evaluation of Intrinsic-Type and Hydrophobic Three-Dimensional Melamine/Polyvinyl-Alcohol Formaldehyde Sponges Containing a Hierarchical Porous Structure for Emulsion Separation AITranslate

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DOI：https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.2c01858

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Emulsion separation of emulsified oil wastewater has been an urgent problem from both environmental and economic perspectives to be dealt with. Here, to overcome the emulsion separation material-prepared process involving expensive equipment and consuming large energy and the composite component-functionalized running off problem during application, a series of intrinsic-type and hydrophobically functionalized three-dimensional (3D) melamine/polyvinyl-alcohol formaldehyde (MF/PVF-Cn-x) sponges containing interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) and a hierarchical porous structure were synthesized by introducing a PVF network into a commercial melamine (MF) sponge by co-acetalation crosslinking reaction first and further acylating chlorination chemical grafting reactions. Water contact angles of as-prepared sponges were higher than 114.7°. Cross-sectional SEM morphological observation and pore size distribution curves demonstrated that interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) and a hierarchical porous structure were constructed successfully. Their pore size scope was from 1 to 100 μm, and the average pore size was around 20 μm (15.7 and 25.1 μm), which was similar to a stable emulsion droplet size of 20 μm, which satisfied the size sieving requirement for emulsion separation. Compared with the separation performance of 2D membrane materials, MF/PVF-Cn-x 3D hierarchical porous materials exhibited excellent separation performance and antifouling property. Among them, the MF/PVF-C16-46.8% sponge had the most prominent emulsion separation performance with a flux of 9.55 × 104 L m–2 h–1 bar–1 and an efficiency of nearly 100%. Furthermore, the separation flux of MF/PVF-Cn-x was still higher than 2.22 × 104 L m–2 h–1 bar–1 and the efficiency was nearly 100% after seven cycles. On the other hand, the mechanical properties of MF/PVF-Cn-x sponges were strengthened by the introduced PVF network, and their compress stress was higher than 3.2 MPa. All the comprehensive performances made MF/PVF-Cn-x sponges become a suitable candidate as a highly effective emulsion separation material.