Beeswax-modified super hydrophobic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polyurethane electrospun membrane for effective oil-water separation

Abstract

In this work, we report the fabrication and performance of a superhydrophobic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)/polyurethane (PU) electrospun membrane modified with beeswax (BW) for oil-water separation. The poor spinnability and mechanical strength of the electrospun ABS membrane were modified by blending it with PU, which has excellent mechanical strength. To the ABS/PU blend electrospun membrane, pure BW was loaded in four different compositions (3-10%). The blend membrane containing 5 wt% beeswax (ABS/PU-5BW) exhibited superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 150 ± 4° and an oil absorption capacity of 20.5-23.5 g g−1 with an average recovery of 87.55-81.64% in different oils. Moreover, it showed significant potential for gravity-driven oil/water separation, with a separation efficiency of 98.14%. The ABS/PU-5BW membrane has significant reusability efficiency even after 12 cycles of oil absorption and gravity-driven oil-water separation. The optimized membrane exhibited significant thermal and mechanical stability, as well as durability under extreme conditions, such as UV exposure and varying pH levels. Thus, our study developed a novel polymer-blend electrospun membrane modified with beeswax with potential applications in industrial oily wastewater treatment and oil spill remediation.