A superhydrophobic pulp/cellulose nanofiber (CNF) membrane via coating ZnO suspensions for multifunctional applications.

Bio-based membranes for removing organic dye and microorganism-containing complicated oil-water effluents simultaneously are sustainable, low-cost, renewable, biodegradable, and nontoxic. Here, a robust, sustainable and molecular-level superhydrophobic Pulp/cellulose nanofiber (CNF) composite membrane (SPCCM) via crosslinking of nanofibers and coating ZnO suspensions for accomplishing this purpose is proposed. The results show that this designed SPCCM has superior superhydrophobicity (water contact angle: 163 ± 2°) and superoleophilicity (oil contact angle: 0 °), which has a great separation efficiency for separating oil-water mixture (92 %) and a high flux (1435 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1). Moreover, SPCCM showed good durability in harsh environment (such as: bending, corrosion solution, temperature, etc). It also showed that the synergistic impact of electrostatic adsorption and ZnO photocatalyst is responsible for the high degradation capacity (Degradation under visible light using 300 w xenon lamp, high degradation efficiency up to 98 %). Furthermore, the SPCCM had a high level of anti-biofouling for microorganisms. Thus, the SPCCM mainly derived from sustainable pulp fibers showed potential performance for oil/water separation and water purification. [Display omitted] • A simple method has been developed to prepare Pulp/CNF composite membrane (CM). • ZnO can construct superhydrophobic coating on the CM surface. • The CM exhibits good mechanical and chemical robustness. • The CM possesses excellent self-cleaning ability. • The CM shows efficient emulsions' separation, photocatalytic degradation property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]