Methods of synthesis polysulfone membrane based on graphene oxide and its applications in oils contaminated wastewater treatment

Abstract

Polysulfone membrane based on graphite oxide have been successfully fabricated by the inversion method by spincoating, casting and electrospinning techniques. Surface membrane characteristics such as SEM, FTIR-ATR, EDX as well as the filtration characteristics of the membrane show that the modified GO membrane is capable of separating the oil from oil/ water emulsions better than the unmodified membrane under some parameters such as retention (R) and filter yield (J). Retention of GO/PSF membrane up to 60,40% while PSF membrane only reached 47,10%. When the GO content was modified on PSF substrate, the membrane became more compact than the previous membrane, the pores size of the membrane decreased and increased the density of the pores on the membrane surface. On the other hand, the modification of GO to the PSF membrane enhances the oxygen-containing functional groups on the membrane, thereby improving the hydrophobic properties which is necessary for the membrane filtration process of separating oil from oil/water emulsions. In addition to investigating the separation efficiency and film retention, we also investigated the irregularity coefficient of the GO/ PSF membranes. The coefficient of occlusion against FR_w is about 18,63%.