Superhydrophilic Stainless Steel Mesh for Oil–Water Separation with Long‐Term Durability, Impressive Corrosion Resistance, and Abrasion Resistance
Bin Sun, Fengmei Zhang, Min Gao, Song Zhao, Jiarou Wang, Wen Zhang, Zhi Wang, Jixiao Wang
Abstract
Durable properties of oil–water separation materials are challenging issue during the development from laboratory to practical application. Herein, twill woven stainless‐steel mesh is modified through oxidation and conversion steps, and applied for oil–water separation. The modified mesh displays excellent superhydrophilic property with water contact angle ≈0° and underwater oil contact angle up to 159°. Oil–water separation performance is evaluated using a series of oil–water mixtures. The results demonstrate that oil–water mixtures can be separated under gravity with oil rejection >99% and water permeate fluxes in the range of 40–60 k L m −2 h −1 . Moreover, the modified mesh shows long‐term durability, excellent chemical corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and fouling resistance. It can maintain stable oil rejection and water flux even after 100 cycles separation for machine oil–water mixture, or after 300 days immersion in artificial seawater, or after 15 days immersion in corrosion acidic or alkaline solutions. Furthermore, the modified mesh exhibit impressive abrasion resistance that keep oil rejection >99% after 80 m abrasion under 1000 g. These excellent performances of the modified mesh are further explained from the special texture of twill woven stainless‐steel mesh and the formed water film due to its superhydrophilicity.