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Electrospun N‐Substituted Polyurethane Membranes with Self‐Healing Ability for Self‐Cleaning and Oil/Water Separation
Author(s) -
Fang Wenyuan,
Liu Libin,
Li Ting,
Dang Zhao,
Qiao Congde,
Xu Jinku,
Wang Yanyan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201504340
Subject(s) - membrane , self healing , materials science , polyurethane , wetting , electrospinning , reuse , durability , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , waste management , polymer , engineering , medicine , biochemistry , alternative medicine , pathology
Abstract Membranes with special functionalities, such as self‐cleaning, especially those for oil/water separation, have attracted much attention due to their wide applications. However, they are difficult to recycle and reuse after being damaged. Herein, we put forward a new N‐substituted polyurethane membrane concept with self‐healing ability to address this challenge. The membrane obtained by electrospinning has a self‐cleaning surface with an excellent self‐healing ability. Importantly, by tuning the membrane composition, the membrane exhibits different wettability for effective separation of oil/water mixtures and water‐in‐oil emulsions, whilst still displaying a self‐healing ability and durability against damage. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate a self‐healing membrane for oil/water separation, which provides the fundamental research for the development of advanced oil/water separation materials.