Efficient oil-water separation with amphipathic magnetic nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄@TiO₂

Abstract

Recently, oil-water separation materials with special wettability surfaces have attracted intense attention. In this work, amphiphilic magnetic nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ are prepared by the homogeneous precipitation method. The prepared nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Dynamic light scattering, Zeta potential and contact angle. The prepared magnetic nanoparticles can effectively separate the simulated oily wastewater prepared with 0# diesel. The oil removal performance with magnetic nanoparticles Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ is evaluated by a handheld oil meter after rotating at 250 rpm for a certain time. Results show that the prepared material has the best oil-water separation performance and maintains high magnetism when the weight ratio of TiO₂ is 80%. When the dosage is 0.125% (w/v), the oil removal rate is up to 97% after 30 minutes of addition. These prepared materials are suitable for oil-water separation under neutral and acidic conditions and have good recycling performance. This indicates that the prepared amphiphilic magnetic nanoparticles have practical applications in the treatment of oily wastewater.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Amphiphilic magnetic separation
• Fe₃O₄@TiO₂
• oil-water separation

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Open Fund of Engineering Research Center of Development and Management for Low to Ultra-Low Permeability Oil & Gas Reservoirs in West China, Ministry of Education (KFJJ-XB-2019-1), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (19CX05006A) and Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province (2020YJ0363).