Electrospun Microfibrous Membranes Based on PIM-1/POSS with High Oil Wettability for Separation of Oil–Water Mixtures and Cleanup of Oil Soluble Contaminants

A series
of PIM-1/POSS microfibrous membranes were fabricated by
electrospinning technology. The addition of POSS particles could greatly
enhance the hydrophobicity, and a superhydrophobic–superoleophilic
membrane was obtained as the POSS concentration increased to 40 wt
%. The scanning electron microscopy images indicate that the incorporation
of POSS particles results in formations of hierarchical structures
on the surface of the PIM-1/POSS fibers. Both the intrinsic hydrophobic
nature of POSS and the increase in the fiber surface roughness led
to the superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. The 40 wt % PIM-1/POSS
fibrous membrane could not only separate a wide range of immiscible
oil–water mixtures with efficiencies higher than 99.95% but
also separate water-in-oil emulsions with efficiencies higher than
99.97%. Furthermore, because of the ultrahigh intrinsic microporosity
of the PIM-1 polymer, the PIM-1 fibrous membrane exhibited the ability
to adsorb a large amount of contaminants such as oil red O and solvent
blue 35 from oils. Therefore, these membranes are multifunctional
and can be applied to treating immiscible water–oil mixtures,
water-in-oil emulsions, and cleanup of oil soluble contaminants.