Collagen fiber membrane-derived chemically and mechanically durable superhydrophobic membrane for high- performance emulsion separation

Developing high-performance separation membrane with good durability is a highly desired while challenging issue.Herein,we reported the successful fabrication of chemically and mechanically durable superhydrophobic membrane that was prepared by embedding UiO-66 as size-sieving sites within the supramolecular fiber structure of collagen fiber membrane(CFM),followed by the polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)coating.The as-prepared CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane featured capillary effect-enhanced separation flux and homogeneous porous channels guaranteed high separation efficiency.When utilized as double-layer separation membranes,this new type of composite membranes separated various surfactant stabilized water-in-oil microemulsions and nanoemulsions,with the separation efficiency high up to 99.993%and the flux as high as 973.3 L m−2 h−1.Compared with commercial polytetrafluoro ethylene(PTFE)membrane,the advantage of the double-layer CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membranes in separation flux was evident,which exhibited one order of magnitude higher than that of commercial PTFE membrane.The CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane was acid-alkali tolerant,UV-aging resistant and reusable for emulsion separation.Notably,the CFM/UiO-66(12)/PDMS membrane was mechanically durable against strong mechanical abrasion,which was still capable of separating diverse water-in-oil emulsions after the abrasion with sandpaper and assembled as double-layer separation membranes.We anticipate that the combination of CFM and metal organic frameworks(MOFs)is an effective strategy for fabricating high-performance separation membrane with high mechanical and chemical durability.

Self-driven directional dehydration enabled eco-friendly manufacture of chrome-free leather

Manufacture of eco-friendly chrome-free leather is of great significance for realizing sustainable development of leather industry.Conventional tanning theory believes that it is impossible to convert raw hide to leather without the utilization of cross-linking agent(e.g.,chrome salts)among collagen fibers in raw hide.Here,we developed a brand-new leather manufacture strategy that relied on the composite dehydration media enabled self-driven directional dehydration mechanism to accomplish chrome-free leather manufacture for the first time,rather than followed the classic cross-linking mechanism that has been obeyed for more than one century in leather industry.We demonstrated that the essence of leather making is to regulate the water content in raw hide rather than to form cross-linkage among collagen fibers.The composite dehydration media comprised of anhydrous ethanol and molecular sieves(3A activated zeolite powder)successfully guaranteed continuous self-driven directional dehydration of raw hide by establishing stable water concentration gradient between raw hide and ethanol,which significantly increased the dispersity of collagen fibers in raw hide(with the water content reduced from 56.07%to 5.20%),thus obtaining chrome-free leather that is more ecological than chrome-tanned leather due to the elimination of any tanning agent.The as-prepared chrome-free leather exhibited outstanding tear force(174.86 N),tensile strength(24.56 N mm−2),elongation at break(53.28%)and dry-thermal stability,superior to chrome-tanned leather.Notably,the used compos-ite dehydration media was recyclable for chrome-free leather manufacture,therefore facilitating an environmentally benign leather manufacture process.Our investigations are expected to open up a new conceptual leather making strategy that is applicable for realizing substantial manufacture of eco-friendly leather.