Abstract:With the increasingly serious contamination caused by oily wastewater, efficient, economical and environmentally friendly oil-water separation technology has become an urgent need. Biodegradable electrospun materials have been widely concerned by researchers because of their unique one-dimensional characteristic structure, which shows high efficiency of oil-water separation and biodegradation. This summary outlines the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of traditional oil-water separation methods, and analyzes the advantages and categories of biodegradable electrospun materials. Then, it provides an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of oil-water emulsions and elucidates the principles of wettability through various models, emphasizing the wetting behavior of liquids on nanofibrous materials and the impact of polymer bulk properties, fiber surface roughness, and external conditions on wettability. By exploring the research status of three types of biodegradable electrospun materials for oil-water separation, namely hydrophilic-oleophobic, oleophilic-hydrophobic, and controllable oil-water separation materials, the regulatory roles of surface wettability and permeability in influencing oil-water separation performance were analyzed and summarized. Finally, a summary and outlook are provided regarding the challenges faced by such materials.