Enhancing the performance of water treatment polyethersulfone membranes using graphene materials

Microfiltration and ultrafiltration polymeric membranes plays significant role in water treatment and water desalination pretreatment application. The performance of these membranes is measured by their flux, rejection of... [ view full abstract ]

Microfiltration and ultrafiltration polymeric membranes plays significant role in water treatment and water desalination pretreatment application. The performance of these membranes is measured by their flux, rejection of impurities such as hydrocarbon, microbial species, alage, …etc, and resistance to inorganic, organic, and biofouling.  In this presentation, we enhane the performance of  polysulfone and ultrafiltration membranes by incorporation of small fractions (<1 wt.%) of using reduced graphene, graphene oxide, graphene-metal oxide nanocomposites, and amine functionalized graphene. Pure PES and PES mixed matrix membranes were fabricated by the phase inversion method. The surface of the developed membranes were characterized by contact angle measurement, AFM, SEM, and zeta potential measurements. The impact of the graphene material type and loading on porosity, pore size distribution, mechanical and thermal properties and is investigated. Moreover, the developed membranes are tested for removal of hydrocarbons and dyes from waste water and our results indicate that we can significantly enhance the performance of polymeric membranes using optimum loading of graphene based materials by simultaneously increasing flux, rejection, and fouling resistance.