Enormous demands on the separation of oil/water (O/W) emulsions in various industries

such as petrochemical

food and pharmaceutical industries

are looking for high performance and energy-efficient separation methods. Ceramic membranes have been used to deal with O/W emulsions

for its outstanding characteristics of easy-operation

high-flux

and long-term stability. However

membrane fouling is still a challenge in the industrial application of ceramic membranes. Herein

antifouling ceramic membranes were fabricated by grafting zwitterions on the membrane surface via an environment-friendly two-step grafting method

which improves the antifouling property and permeability. Successful grafting of such zwitterion on the ceramic surface was assessed by the combination of FTIR and XPS characterization. More importantly

the hydration can be formed by electrostatic interactions layer on the modified membrane

which was confirmed by TGA characterization. The antifouling performance of prepared zwitterionic ceramic membranes in the separation of O/W emulsions was systematically tested. The results suggested that zwitterion can significantly improve the flux of ceramic ultrafiltration membrane

and can also improve antifouling property dramatically by reducing the irreversible fouling in the separation of O/W emulsions. Therefore

zwitterionic ceramic membranes hold promising potentials as an antifouling

highly efficient and green method in the practical purification of the O/W emulsions.