Superwettable Coprinus comatus coated membranes used toward the controllable separation of emulsified oil/water mixtures

Separation of emulsified oil/water mixtures has become an increasingly important topic worldwide. Superwetting materials offer a good platform for emulsified oil/water separation, whereas these materials can generally separate one type of emulsion. For controllable oil/water separation, switchable wetting materials have been adopted. However, the use of these materials is generally restricted by a variety of factors, such as stimuli-responsive molecules and continuous external stimuli. Herein, we reported an intelligent membrane for the controllable separation of oil/water emulsions, which exhibited high efficiency as a single-unit and did not require any continuous external stimuli. Combining nanoscale pores and the switchable wettability between underwater superoleophobicity and underoil (super)hydrophobicity, the controllable separation of oil­in­water and water­in­oil emulsions could be easily implemented by alternatively washing the membrane with ethanol and drying it. In addition, the as-obtained membrane still presented excellent separation efficiencies, above 99.0% after six cycles. Moreover, the as-prepared membrane exhibited outstanding mechanical properties and stability under various harsh conditions. The reported method could be used to prepare such membranes on a large-scale and could open up new prospects for manufacturing novel oil/water emulsions separating materials.