{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]],"date-time":"2026-08-29T05:18:29Z","timestamp":1787980709852,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,3]],"date-time":"2023-08-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1691020800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University","award":["PNURSP2023R316"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PNURSP2023R316"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The efficient separation of oil and water is a significant challenge worldwide due to the increasing frequency of industrial oily wastewater. Previous work by our group utilizes biological metal\u2013organic framework-based superhydrophobic (S.P) textile fabric for oil\/water separation. However, this system is limited due to the low mechanical stability, so there is a need for producing a more robust S.P membrane for oil\/water separation. In this study, we report on the synthesis of carbon quantum dots (CQD) from banana leaves via a hydrothermal process and their application in producing a robust S.P coating on textile fabric for oil\/water separation. The CQDs were characterized using various techniques including TEM, XRD, absorbance spectroscopy, and the BET method. The TEM images showed that the CQDs were circular in shape with a size of 4.4 nm, while the XRD micrograph indicated that the CQDs were crystalline in nature. The UV\u2013vis graph showed a peak at a wavelength of 278 nm, suggesting strong absorption in the ultraviolet region. The BET-specific surface area of the prepared CQDs is 845 m2\/g, with a pore volume of 0.33 cm3\/g, and a mean pore diameter of 1.62 nm. We examined the surface wettability, morphology, composition, oil absorption capacity, oil\/water separation performance, flux rate, chemical stability, and mechanical stability of the S.P membrane. Our findings indicate that the developed CQD-based S.P membrane possesses excellent S.P properties, displaying high water contact angles of 163\u00b0 and low water sliding angles of 1\u00b0. The membrane demonstrated superior oil absorption capacity, separation efficiency, and flux rate towards three different oils\u2014petroleum ether, n-hexane, and silicone oil. Petroleum ether has the highest separation efficiency (99.5%), and flux rate (13,500 L m\u22122 h\u22121), while silicone oil has the lowest. However, silicone oil has the highest absorption capacity (218.9 g\/g) and petroleum ether has the lowest (194.8 g\/g). For the absorption capacity and separation efficiency, a one-way ANOVA test was conducted. The statistical analyses revealed significant differences in absorption capacity and separation efficiency for the three oils, highlighting the efficacy of the superhydrophobic membrane for tailored oil\/water separation. Additionally, the S.P membrane exhibited good mechanical (the membrane maintains its superhydrophobicity until an abrasion length of 850 cm) and chemical stability (the membrane maintains its superhydrophobicity in pH range 1\u201313), withstanding abrasion and immersion in solutions of varying pH values. The CQD-based S.P membrane shows great potential as a promising material for oil\/water separation applications, with excellent performance and stability under various environmental conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16155456","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,3]],"date-time":"2023-08-03T11:23:03Z","timestamp":1691061783000},"page":"5456","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Green Synthesis of a Carbon Quantum Dots-Based Superhydrophobic Membrane for Efficient Oil\/Water Separation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Rasmiah Saad","family":"Almufarij","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed Elshahat","family":"Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21568, Egypt"},{"name":"Faculty of Advanced Basic Sciences, Alamein International University, Alamein City 51718, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133644","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chemosphere.2022.133644","article-title":"Superhydrophobic Nanohybrid Sponges for Separation of Oil\/Water Mixtures","volume":"294","author":"Uwaezuoke","year":"2022","journal-title":"Chemosphere"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elmobarak, W.F., Hameed, B.H., Almomani, F., and Abdullah, A.Z. (2021). 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