Insights on smart and stimuli-responsive hydrogel membranes for oil/water separation: A sustainable tool for oily pollutant remediation

Hydrogels that are smart and intelligent can change their conformation and properties in response to various external stimuli, which has made this research topic quite popular. More significantly, the fact that hydrogels could absorb and release large amounts of water without damaging their structure has led to their widespread use in water treatment and purification. Besides, the fouling problem arising for highly effective oil/water emulsion separation has been successfully solved by manipulating the surface architecture of hydrogel material to obtain membranes with tunable pores and morphology, strong water affinity, hydration ability, and anti-oil-fouling. Therefore, this review provides a sustainable tool for oily pollutant remediation using stimuli-responsive hydrogel membranes. Herein, insights on smart hydrogel processing techniques, intelligent stimuli-responsive hydrogels for oil/water separation, and their mechanisms were highlighted. In addition, the environmental impact of the use of smart hydrogels for oil/water separation was outlined. This review is anticipated to offer some direction for the study and use of environmentally stimuli-responsive hydrogels for remediating oily pol-lutants in water.