Modifying polybenzimidazole nanofiber membranes using UiO-66-NH2 metal-organic framework for oil-water separation

Abstract

Polybenzimidazole (PBI)-based membranes are widely utilized because of their outstanding thermal stability and physical resilience. Taking into account these attributes, PBI-based membrane was combined with UiO-66-NH2 metal-organic framework (MOF) for the first time by employing a straightforward solvothermal in-situ growth method. The successful introduction of MOF particles in the modified Nanofiber (NF) membrane enhanced membrane's hydrophilicity/underwater oleophobicity, which results in the efficient purification of various oil-water emulsions from both ionic and non-ionic surfactants. For common CTAB-oil water emulsion, flux of the fabricated membrane reached approximately 11000 L/m(2) h bar with high separation efficiency (similar to 99 % oil rejection). Moreover, the initial performance of the modified membrane can be recovered after simple regeneration in ethanol, regardless of feed type, demonstrating its exceptional recyclability. In brief, the successful growth of UiO-66-NH2 in crosslinked PBI membranes presents a new approach for the efficient separation of oil-water emulsions.