A novel lotus-leaf-inspired superhydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA) porous membrane was fabricated for oil-water separation based on fused deposition modeling three-dimensional printing and subsequent chemical etching and the decoration of polystyrene nanospheres. A superhydrophobic PLA fractal surface with a water contact angle of 151.7 degrees and low water adhesion force of 21.8 N was achieved. The membrane pore size could be easily adjusted from 40 to 600m via a computer-aided design program to optimize separation performance. The maximal oil-water separation efficiency of 99.4% was achieved with a pore size of 250m, which also exhibited a high flux of 60 kL m(-2) h(-1). (c) 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3700-3708, 2018