Wefirst report here mussel-inspired, hybrid coatings

formed in a facile manner via simultaneous polymerization of musselinspired dopamine and hydrolysis of commercial tetraethoxysilane in

a single-step process. The hybrid coatings can firmly adhered on

hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate, and the

hydrophilicity of the coating can be tuned by adjusting silane

concentration. The reason for the changed hydrophilicity of the

coating is disclosed by a series of characterization, and was applied to

rationally design optimized hybrid coatings that transform

commercial PVDF microfiltration (MF) membrane hydrophobicity

into high hydrophilicity with excellent water permeability and underwater superoleophobicity for oil-in-water emulsion

separation. The PVDF MF membrane decorated with optimized coatings has ultrahigh waterflux (8606 L m

?2

h

?1

only under

0.9 bar, which is 34 times higher than that of pristine membrane), highly efficient oil-in-water emulsion separation ability at

atmospheric pressure (filtrate flux of 140 L m

?2

h

?1

) and excellent antifouling performance. More importantly, these membranes

are extremely stable as underwater superoleophobicity are maintained, even after rigorous washings or cryogenic bending,

disclosing outstanding stability. The simplicity and versatility of this novel mussel-inspired one-step strategy may bridge the

material-induced technology gap between academia and industry, which makes it promising for eco-friendly applications