Given the fact that membrane fouling has proved to be a major obstacle in membrane-based water treatment and desalination, the development of low fouling polymer membranes is an important topic in membrane research. This study presents data on preparation and properties of novel nanoporous polyethersulfone (PES) membranes incorporated with "in house" synthesized graphene oxide (GO) with a high content of oxygen containing groups as well as with acacia gum (AG) as a nanofiller and a pore forming agent, respectively. The fabricated membranes were extensively characterized in terms of surface charge, hydrophilicity, morphology and porous structure. The PES/GO/AG membranes were tested against both organic fouling and biofouling by using bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions, Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial suspensions and real treated sewage effluent (TSE).<br/>It was shown that the prepared composite membranes possessed enhanced hydrophilicity, surface charge and porosity. It was found that the PES/GO/AG membranes possess the improved resistance to organic fouling compared to the neat PES membrane with a notable decrease in irreversible fouling value. Remarkably that PES/GO/AG membranes exhibited superior inhibition of bacterial growth on the membrane surface for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species. The composite membranes displayed the stronger biofouling resistance as shown by higher permeate flux during TSE filtration (Fig.1). The enhanced performance can be attributed to the increase in negative surface charge, along with the increased hydrophilicity of the prepared membranes. Finally, PES/GO/AG membranes were successful in abolishing the presence of any bacterial forms in the permeate that was collected from TSE filtration. Overall, these findings point to the synergistic action of both GO and AG nano-additives in improving the performance and biofouling resistance of PES membranes through their anti-adhesive properties.

Novel low fouling nanoporous polyethersulfone membranes embedded with graphene oxide for water treatment and desalination

ACS Spring 2022

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