Preparation of carbon cloth membrane with visible light induced self-cleaning performance for oil-water separation

A carbon cloth@TiO2@Ag (CC@TiO2@Ag) membrane has been prepared by two-step method, including the hydrothermal method to make TiO2 grow on carbon cloth and the photodeposition method to synthesize Ag element on CC@TiO2 for oil-water separation. The obtained CC@TiO2@Ag membrane shows the good superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity due to its hierarchical broccoli-like interface with the good surface roughness and the natural hydrophilicity of TiO2. Importantly, the resultant membrane exhibits a strong self-cleaning ability under visible light irradiation of CC@TiO2@Ag membrane with loading a certain amount of Ag, so that the separation efficiency remains above 99% even after 60 cycles for various oil-water mixtures. Moreover, the CC@TiO2@Ag membrane is flexible and durable. The high separation efficiency and excellent self-cleaning ability of the membrane may own the broad application prospects in the field of oil-water separation.