The structure and property of polyacrylonitrile-based microfiltration membranes for oil-water emulsion separation

The polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based microfiltration membranes material was prepared used waste polyacrylonitrile fibers as the raw material. The PAN membranes have two different structure, the surface layer is finger pore structure, below layer is cavernous pore structure with the porosity is 85.92%. The PAN membrane shows super strong hydrophilicity (high water permeability) and ultra low adhesion of underwater oil (good oilresistance) under different pH values and different surfactants. The flux of PAN membranes is 1952.63 L•m ⁻² • H ⁻¹ • bar ⁻¹ , the oil retention ability is 99.14% when the film thickness was 100 μm, the PAN concentration was 7%, and the alkali treatment time was 1 h. The PAN membrane is an environmentally friendly material, have good application potential for oil-water emulsion separation and recycling of waste oil. Preparation of separation and filtration materials provides a good way to recycle waste PAN fibers and has potential practical value in oil-water separation field.