2026-06-07T23:41:39Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request

oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1303512026-01-16T01:11:29Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Jafarzadeh, Y author García Payo, M. Carmen author Khayet Souhaimi, Mohamed author 2026 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 d-spacing 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·m−2·h−1). Filtration tests using a 1000 mg·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. Y. Jafarzadeh, C. García-Payo, M. Khayet, Surface-decorated polyethylene glycol-graphene oxide nanohybrids for fouling mitigation in aminated polysulfone membranes treating oily wastewater, Journal of Water Process Engineering, Volume 82, 2026, 109479, ISSN 2214-7144, 10.1016/j.jwpe.2026.109479 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130351 2214-7144 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2026.109479 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214714426000371 Surface-decorated polyethylene glycol-graphene oxide nanohybrids for fouling mitigation in aminated polysulfone membranes treating oily wastewater