Phytate-modified stainless steel with ultrahigh flux and excellent anti-fouling properties for oil-water separation

Accumulation of oil spills and industrial emissions causing serious damage to the natural environment, and the treatment of oily waste water plays an essential role in resource utilization and environmental protection. Although lots of materials have been reported for the oil/water separation, most of them are still high cost and unstable during application in complicated environment. In this study, the phytic acid (PA) was anchored on the surface of stainless steel mesh (PA-SSM). Results revealed that the PA-SSM exhibited superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic properties, and presented ultra-high flux during separating the ether/water mixture (1.3 × 10 5  L·m −2 ·h −1 ). When the PA-SSM was employed to separate the high viscosity freezing oil/water mixture, it also presented a high flux of 1.1 × 10 5  L·m −2 ·h −1 , and the separation efficiency was still higher than 99.8 % even after consecutive separated for 60 times. Moreover, the PA-SSM exhibited excellent resistance to acid and salts, mechanical stability and contamination. The simple preparation, low cost and excellent performance of PA-SSM provide an option for the efficient separation of oil/water mixture in the continuous separation and harsh environment.