brOWSER: 2D Materials for Efficient Industrial Oil and Water Separation.

该项目能够开发一种简单、快速、廉价和可扩展的方法来制造能够有效分离石油和天然气行业中常见的石油和水乳状液的纳米涂层金属网，这种乳状液是由石油开采技术产生的。这项创新的工作原理与鱼鳞相同，由相对较大和较小的孔(微米和纳米大小的孔洞)组合而成，共同创造出一种喜欢水、强烈讨厌油的表面。这种关系允许水很容易通过膜，同时留下油，从混合物中分离出来。目前的技术要么依赖于使用额外的化学物质来分离油和水的混合物，要么产生二次流出流。另一种选择是使用电力过滤系统，这是昂贵的和能源要求高，并迅速成为堵塞的含油量。这些加压系统经常破裂，使目前的分离过程繁琐、低产，并可能造成污染。

This project enables the development of a simple, rapid, inexpensive and scalable method to fabricate a nano-coated metallic mesh capable of the efficient separation of oil and water emulsions, typically found in the oil and gas industry and resulting from oil extraction techniques. The innovation works on the same principle as fish scales with the combination of relatively large and small holes (micro and nano-sized porosity) which together create a surface that likes water and intensely dislikes oil. This relationship allows water to easily pass through the membrane while leaving the oil behind, separated from the mixture. Current technology either relies on the use of additional chemistry to separate oil and water mixtures, creating secondary effluent streams. Alternatively electrically powered filtration systems are employed which are expensive and energy demanding and rapidly become blocked by the oil content. These pressurised systems often rupture making the current process of separation cumbersome and unproductive and potentially polluting.