Separating a multicomponent and multiphase liquid mixture with a 3D-printed membrane device.

The separation of multicomponent and multiphase liquid mixtures is critical in many important applications, , wastewater treatment. While conventional technologies have been utilized in the separation, it usually takes many steps, resulting in high cost and energy consumption. Here we have demonstrated that, using a 3D-printed membrane device with multiple selectivity, a multicomponent and multiphase liquid mixture can be separated in a much more efficient way. The water-benzene-heptane mixture has been successfully separated with a 3D-printed "box", which has a supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM) on the side wall and a hydrogel-coated hydrophilic/oleophobic membrane on the bottom. The water and oil (, benzene/heptane) are separated by the hydrogel-coated hydrophilic/oleophobic membrane. Then the benzene is separated from heptane with the SILM. To further increase the separation throughput, the structure of the 3D-printed "box" has been optimized to increase the total surface area of SILM. Our results suggest that 3D-printed membrane device with multiple selectivity is promising in the separation of multicomponent and multiphase liquid mixtures.