Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: Journal of applied polymer Lugar: RESEARCH ARTICLE This research fabricated Zein/PLA/SiO2 composite fibrous membranes with hierarchical fiber structures featuring microscale groove-shaped, nanoscale rod-shaped, and microscale ribbon-shaped fibers through coaxial electrospinning and uniaxial electrospinning technology. The synergistic effect of the hierarchical fiber structures endows the designed composite fibrous membrane with excellent mechanical properties, tunable superwettability, and remarkable separation performance for various oils.

ABSTRACT
Biological materials have been widely applied in achieving wastewater purification and the construction of a sustainable society. In this work, a sustainable and eco-friendly biomass fiber membrane was developed for oil–water separation. Based on zein as the primary material, the Zein/PLA/SiO2 composite fibrous membrane with hierarchical structures comprising microscale groove-shaped, nanoscale rod-shaped, and microscale ribbon-shaped was designed through composite electrospinning technology. The multiscale morphological structure, thermal stability, wettability, mechanical properties, and oil–water separation performance of the designed composite fibrous membrane were systematically investigated. We found that the synergistic effect of the hierarchical fiber structure endows the fibrous membrane with excellent mechanical properties, tunable superwettability, and remarkable adsorption capacity for various oils. Specifically, tensile stress of the fibrous membrane was significantly increased from 0.4 to 1.94 MPa, and the membrane exhibited a high adsorption capacity of up to 41.8 g/g. Moreover, it achieved a high emulsion separation efficiency of over 99% with the flux of 2638 L/(m2 h), and maintained stable separation performance even after 30 cycles, demonstrating excellent reusability and long-term stability. The further investigation into the structure–property relationship provides theoretical guidance for designing and fabricating novel, rapidly biodegradable, high-efficiency oil–water separation fibrous membranes.