Tunable oil-water separation using engineered cellulose membranes
Ardakkyzy A. Zulkarnayev A. Sarsengaliyeva A. Abeu N. Tileuberdi Y. Toktarbay Z. Nuraje N.
August 2025Elsevier Ltd
Chemosphere
2025#382
The development of durable and efficient membranes is essential for addressing environmental pollution caused by industrial oil spills and oily wastewater. This study presents a simple surface modification approach using a sol-gel dip-coating technique to fabricate hydrophobic cellulose membranes (CMs) for oil-water separation. Two silane agents—hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) and triethoxy(octyl)silane (OTES)—were separately introduced into the sol-gel reaction to enhance membrane hydrophobicity and separation performance. Results showed that cellulose membranes modified with OTES (MCMs-OTES) exhibited superior oil-water separation efficiency compared to those treated with HDTMS (MCMs-HDTMS), despite having lower water contact angles (WCAs). This finding suggests that surface wetting properties alone do not solely determine separation performance; instead, the presence and distribution of silicon nanoparticles formed during the sol-gel process play a significant role. Additionally, the impact of different CM pore sizes (2.5 μm, 5.0 μm, 20 μm, and 20–25 μm) on separation performance was investigated. Among these, MCMs-OTES with the largest pore size (20–25 μm) achieved the highest average separation flux (14088.7 L m−2 h−1) and efficiency (96.1 %). Notably, both HDTMS- and OTES-modified membranes exhibited excellent fouling resistance and long-term durability, maintaining high separation efficiencies over time.
Cellulose , Dip-coating , Membrane , Oil-water separation , Pore size , Silicon nanoparticles , Sol-gel method
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Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Laboratory Astana (NLA), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr 53, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences (SEDS), Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr 53, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Engineering Profile, Satbayev University, Satbayev St. 22a, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Institute of Natural Sciences and Geography, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Dostyk ave. 13, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Renewable Energy Laboratory
Chemical and Materials Engineering Department
Laboratory of Engineering Profile
Institute of Natural Sciences and Geography
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