Facile construction of robust superhydrophobic ZIF‐8@pulp/cellulose nanofiber (CNF) membrane for multifunctional applications

Given the increasing contamination of freshwater supplies, it is essential to effectively treat industrial wastewater. However, treating industrial wastewater using a single method is challenging due to the presence of complex contaminants like petroleum, organic dyes, bacteria, and other complex contaminants. In this study, we present a straightforward and scalable approach to prepare multifunctional nanocellulose-based membranes (NM) that exhibit superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning, oil/water separation, photocatalysis, and anti-bioadhesion properties. To begin with, we created NM by extruding fiber slurry onto a stencil and drying it. Next, we built a polyurethane (PU)/ZIF‐8/1H, 1H, 2H, 2H‐perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (POTS)-based superhydrophobic layer by spraying it over the NM's surface. By employing the aforementioned processes, we successfully integrated multiple functions into a single superhydrophobic NM. Our results demonstrate that the NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane exhibits superior hydrophobicity performance, with a high-water contact angle (166.8 ± 0.8°) and a low rolling angle (5 ± 0.3°). Moreover, these samples retain high-water contact angles and low rolling angles even in harsh environments such as acid and alkali solutions, high temperatures, abrasion resistance, UV aging resistance, bending and folding, tape peeling, and self-cleaning. The NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane also exhibits high and stable oil-water separation performance, with a separation efficiency of 94.6% and a relatively high separation flux (133.2 L·m−2·h−1). At the same time, the NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane exhibits water-in-oil emulsion separation ability. The membrane’s stability, effectiveness, and reusability were demonstrated through ten repetitions of degradation experiments using aqueous methylene blue solution, with the NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane exhibiting an excellent degradation rate (>94%). Finally, the bioadhesion resistance test indicated a reduction of 69.1% in the adhesion rate of the NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane. Overall, the creation of the NM-PU/ZIF-8/POTS membrane serves as a useful inspiration for the practical application of superhydrophobic NM in multifunctional integration, while also broadening the scope of membrane applications.