Easy-To-Clean Membrane Separates Oil From Water

ckwu writes: A steel mesh with a novel self-cleaning coating can separate oil and water, easily lifting oil from an oil-water mixture and leaving the water behind. Unlike existing oil-water separation membranes, if the coated mesh gets contaminated with oil, it can be simply rinsed off with water and reused, without needing to be cleaned with detergents. The team was able to use the mesh to lift crude oil from a crude oil-seawater mixture, showcasing the feasibility of oil-spill cleanup. The membrane could also be used to treat oily wastewater and as a protective barrier in industrial sewer outlets to avoid oil discharge.

Comments

How It Works

[chill]

The coating lives water and repels oil. Pull it thru an oil-water mix and the water flows thru the holes but the oil doesn't.

Pull it out and it contains a puddle of oil. Rinse it with a little water and the oil comes right off, ready for reuse.

This isn't that uncommon in these types of filters. What is new is that this works dry. Other filters of this type have to be thoroughly wet before they work. This one is oleophobic when dry as well. So no fancy prep to get it to work.

Re:Will Never Be Used in the United States

[93 Escort Wagon]

You might want to re-read your "reference article" all the way through, including the editorial comment after the article's end. It doesn't seem to contain the details you state.