[464]  Xin-Yu Guo, Da-Wei Wang, Han-Cheng Yang*, Zhi-Kang Xu*. ‌Chem. Eng. J. 2026, 182253.

 

Concurrent recovery of water and oil from surfactant-stabilized emulsions is crucial for wastewater minimization and resource recycling, yet remains highly challenging because of the small droplet size and high kinetic stability of these emulsions. The Janus channel of membranes (JCM), which integrates hydrophilic and hydrophobic membranes within a confined channel, enables simultaneous collection of oil and water. However, its performance is constrained by the accumulation of emulsified droplets near the hydrophilic membrane and the inefficient capture of highly stable, fine droplets by the hydrophobic membrane. Here, we develop an electro-coupled JCM (e-JCM) by applying a direct-current electric field across the JCM architecture to actively regulate droplet dynamics during separation. The e-JCM was assembled by positioning a SiO₂-mineralized hydrophilic polypropylene membrane and a pristine hydrophobic polypropylene membrane on opposite sides of a 4-mm-wide channel, with porous stainless-steel membrane supports simultaneously serving as electrodes, and was evaluated under cross-flow filtration. The electric field induces interfacial charge polarization of emulsified droplets to promote droplet coalescence, while simultaneously driving directional migration of charged emulsified droplets away from the hydrophilic membrane surface and toward the hydrophobic membrane. For an emulsion stabilized with 5 mg mL^-1 sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), the e-JCM achieved water and oil recoveries of approximately 93% and 99%, respectively, approximately twice those obtained with the JCM, while maintaining product purities above 99.9%. This work demonstrates an effective strategy for coupling external-field regulation with membrane architectures to enhance the concurrent recovery of water and oil from stable emulsions.