A zinc oxide nanorods coated brass wire mesh with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity prepared by electrochemical deposition combined with hydrothermal reaction

Abstract Zinc oxide nanorods coated brass wire mesh (BWM) with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity prepared by electrochemical deposition combined with hydrothermal reaction. The structure properties of the as-prepared mesh were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The as-prepared mesh could be used to separate various oil/water mixtures. After separation, the residual oil in the filtrate was lower than 50 ppm, while the water flux was above 50 L m −2  min −1 . The oil contact angle (CA) underwater could be maintained at 150° above even the separation operation was performed ten times, indicating that the as-prepared brass wire mesh refers to a potential separation material in the practical application.