The Use of Waste Concrete as a Filter for Separating Water-In-Oil Emulsions

The damage of construction waste on the environment and the resource utilization of the waste have become urgent problems to be solved. Traditional disposal techniques have a number of limitations, and hence, a need for efficient technique remains a worldwide challenge. Herein, based on the incredible attraction between concrete materials and water, we present the application of concrete waste particles layer for efficient separation of water-in-oil emulsions. In this study, surfactant stabilized water-in-oil emulsions have been successfully filtered by using only concrete waste particles as a filter. The results reveal that this technique efficiently implements the separation of water-in-oil emulsion, due to the great adsorption capability of concrete waste with water even concrete waste was in the state of oil wetted. Furthermore, the filtration process does not produce any harmful products. Overall, the application of absorbent concrete waste proposed in this study could be considered as a promising candidate for recycling of concrete waste and separating water-in-oil emulsions.