Intensifying separation and antifouling performance of PSf membrane incorporated by GO and ZnO nanoparticles for petroleum refinery wastewater treatment

The fouling formation on the membrane's surface has limited the membrane-based separation in industrial activities such as wastewater reclamation and seawater desalination. The nanomaterials' incorporation has been developed to enhance membrane performance. In this study, the combination of graphene oxide (GO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles to PSf membrane to improve the membrane performances to treat the petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) was performed. The SEM-EDX result shows the presence of both GO and ZnO nanoparticles on the membrane's surface. They also produced the porosity of 83.00 ± 1.18 % for PSf/GO/ZnO, which was higher than the neat PSf with 52.20 ± 0.28 %. The FTIR and XRD result has confirmed the presence of GO and ZnO in the membrane that caused the increment in hydrophilicity and mechanical strength. The addition of GO and ZnO nanoparticles has reduced the water contact angle from 80° to 52° and increased water uptake ability from 16 % to 75 % compared to the neat PSf. It has also resulted in the highest permeate flux and pollutant removal compared to the other membranes with a maximum permeate flux of 35.03 L.m⁻².h⁻¹ and a rejection value 70.21 ± 2.33 % for total dissolved solids (TDS) and 74.68 ± 0.88 % for chemical oxygen demand (COD). The fouling resistance evaluation showed the addition of GO and ZnO nanoparticles successfully reduced the resistance during filtration, indicating a reduction in fouling tendency on the membrane's surface. These phenomena are proven by the antifouling potential analysis at the addition of GO and ZnO nanoparticles was exhibited the highest flux recovery ratio up to 90.44 ± 1.22 %.