Multifunctional CuO‐Coated Mesh for Wastewater Treatment: Effective Oil/Water Separation, Organic Contaminants Photodegradation, and Bacterial Photodynamic Inactivation

Abstract

wastewater systems contain many complex contaminants such as insoluble oils, organic dyes, and bacteria, making the wastewater cleanup in a single-step highly challenging. [3][4][5][6] Traditional treatment methods, including controlled burning, absorption, air flotation, skimming, gravity separation, coagulation, photocatalytic degradation, and bioremediation, are required for water purification, whereas for a complete wastewater cleanup, traditional multiple methods are required. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Therefore, developing multifunctional materials that can deal with multiple contaminants simultaneously to achieve the complex wastewater cleanup are greatly favored.Inspired by nature, the materials with special superwetting surfaces have received more considerable attention for wastewater cleanup because of their low energy consumption, high efficiency and specific selectivity. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] In the past decade, a rich library of superhydrophobic/ superoleophilic materials that can selectively absorb or filter the oils out from oil/ water mixtures, has been developed for the purpose of wastewater treatment. [22][23][24][25] A common drawback in using those materials is that they are easily fouled or even clogged by the permeated oils, consequently, leading to a dramatic decline of their separation capacity and recyclability in the subsequent use. In contrast, the superhydrophilic and The complex pollutants in wastewater including insoluble oils, organic dyes, and bacteria, have caused severe environmental problems, which are harmful to ecosystems and human health and are complex and difficult to achieve wastewater purification with one material or single procedure. Herein, a facile, yet environmentally benign strategy is proposed to fabricate a superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic CuO-coated mesh for all-in-one wastewater treatment. In this strategy, the hierarchical micro/nano structured CuO-coated mesh is fabricated via an oxidation-dehydration process, which simultaneously endows the mesh with superwetting ability, remarkable photocatalytic degradation ability, and excellent photodynamic antibacterial activity. This CuO-coated mesh first exhibits the special underwater superoleophobicity, superior durability, reusability, and high antifouling capability, which ensures its high separation efficiency for oil/water mixtures. Then, this CuO-coated mesh is underwater superoleophobic, possessing the remarkable photocatalytic degradation performance of organic dye contaminates in water and excellent photodynamic antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus under visible-light irradiation. As such, it plays a multi-role in wastewater remedy, significantly simplifying the implementation and saving the cost in practice. This work suggests a promising approach for the design of multi-functional materials in environmental remedies.

Stimuli-Activable Metal-Bearing Nanomaterials and Precise On-Demand Antibacterial Strategies

“…In recent years, light-activated metal-bearing nanomaterials have attracted great attention of researchers in the application of water disinfection, because the bactericidal methods developed using them can not only achieve efficient and controllable killing of bacteria but also avoid the production of harmful products. ,,,− Besides, reusability of antibacterial nanomaterials is a great demand in water disinfection applications. It is not just a matter of cost but also important in reducing nanoparticles release into the aquatic environment thus reducing potential toxic effect to aquatic organisms and various plants .…”

“…(b) Fabrication of multifunctional CuO-coated mesh with excellent durability, reusability, and high oil separation for wastewater treatment. Reprinted with permission from ref . Copyright 2021 Wiley-VCH.…”

“…In addition to membrane, mesh is another water treatment device. Meng's group 239 developed a hierarchical micro/ nanostructured CuO-coated mesh for wastewater treatment through an oxidative dehydration process. The mesh possessed superhydrophilic and underwater superhydrophobic properties, thereby exhibiting excellent durability, reusability, and high oil separation.…”

A review of metal–organic framework (MOF) materials as an effective photocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutants

“…3 In response to the freshwater crisis, water purication has emerged as an alternative drinking and industrial water supplementation solution. 4,5 Therefore, developing efficient technologies that effectively remove contaminants from wastewater becomes crucial, ensuring environmental stability. 6,7 Based on the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), contaminants can be categorized as organic and inorganic, depending on their chemical composition.…”

Superhydrophobic Ag‐Decorated CuO Nanowire Arrays with Analyte‐Concentrating and Self‐Cleaning Binary Functions for Ultrasensitive and Recyclable Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering

“…CuO, which is an important p‐type semiconductor with a narrow band gap of 1.21 eV, has found wide applications in catalysis, sensors, and electronic devices. [ 38 ] Recently, some metal‐CuO nanocomposites have shown self‐cleaning abilities under visible‐light irradiation, which have served as the visible‐light‐driven photocatalytically recyclable SERS substrates. However, these metal‐CuO nanocomposites usually show lower SERS‐signal sensitivity and reproducibility.…”