Jafarzadeh, Y. and Garcia-Payo, C. and Khayet, M. (2026) Surface-decorated polyethylene glycol-graphene oxide nanohybrids for fouling mitigation in aminated polysulfone membranes treating oily wastewater. JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING, 82. ISSN 2214-7144
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Abstract
Membrane fouling remains a critical challenge in oily wastewater treatment, limiting the efficiency of conventional polymeric membranes. Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising hydrophilic modifier, but its tendency to restack restricts interlayer spacing and limits antifouling performance. In this work, we present polyethylene glycol (PEG)-functionalized GO nanosheets, with adjustable molecular weights, to effectively expand GO interlayer spacing and enhance the hydrophilicity and antifouling capabilities of aminated chloromethylated polysulfone (AM-CMPSF) membranes. PSF was first chloromethylated and fabricated via non-solvent induced phase separation method, followed by amination using ethylenediamine to form AM-CMPSF membranes. GO nanosheets were synthesized and functionalized with PEG of varying molecular weights, then stacked onto the membrane surface. XRD analysis confirmed that increasing PEG molecular weight broadened interlayer dspacing between GO nanosheets. The resulting GO-PEG/AM-CMPSF membranes exhibited significantly improved surface hydrophilicity, with rapid water absorption preventing contact angle measurement, and increased water uptake (from 30.6% for the pristine membrane (M0) to 84.6% for GO-PEG20000 (M6)), and pure water flux (from 5.9 to 16.9 L & sdot;m-2 & sdot;h-1). Filtration tests using a 1000 mg & sdot;L-1 oil-in-water emulsion revealed enhanced permeate flux and fouling resistance. All membranes maintained high oil rejection (85.6%- 88.1%). Permeate flux decline decreased from 41.2% for M0 to 27.2% for M6, irreversible fouling ratio from 28.6% to 23.0%, and the flux recovery ratio increased from 71.2% to 87.0%. The results demonstrate that PEG-modified GO effectively enhanced membrane hydrophilicity, antifouling behavior, and filtration performance, offering a promising strategy for advanced oily wastewater treatment.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Oily wastewater; Graphene oxide; Polysulfone membrane; Amination; Reduced fouling |
| Subjects: | T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering |
| Depositing User: | José Ángel Gómez Martín |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Mar 2026 11:53 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Mar 2026 11:53 |
| URI: | http://eprints.imdea-agua.org:13000/id/eprint/1801 |
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