Journal of Membrane Science最新文献

{"title":"Enhanced anti-fouling and perm-selectivity properties of polyamide reverse osmosis membranes via citric acid-chelated Fenton oxidation modification","authors":"Ziqi Hong ,&nbsp;Xuan Chen ,&nbsp;Zixu Wang ,&nbsp;Sanchuan Yu ,&nbsp;Hongwei Lu ,&nbsp;Doufeng Wu ,&nbsp;Congjie Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124476","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124476","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polyamide reverse osmosis (PA RO) membranes are extensively utilized in desalination and water purification, and enhancing their resistance to fouling and selective separation capabilities remains a key area of research. This study introduces a novel, environmentally friendly method that modifies PA-based membranes using a citric acid (CA) modified Fenton reaction, which strategically enriching iron ions (Fe²⁺) on the surface through complexation with functional groups such as carboxyls. The interaction between Fe²⁺ and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generates hydroxyl radicals (·OH), which catalyze oxidative bonding reactions between the amide bonds and terminal amino groups, forming quinone imine structures. These quinone imine moieties become protonated while nearby carboxyl groups deprotonate, generating zwitterionic surface sites that boost both charge density and hydrophilicity. This modification significantly enhances anti-fouling performance, as reflected by the flux recovery ratio (FRR), which increased from 92.88 % for the pristine membrane to 97.02 % for the CA-Fenton modified membrane when tested with BSA, and reaching 99.18 % with SA. The water permeability coefficient (A) of the modified membranes increased from 4.91 to 5.12 L m⁻² h⁻¹·bar⁻¹, and the sodium chloride (NaCl) permeability coefficient (B) decreased from 0.373 to 0.179 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, boosting the perm-selectivity (A/B ratio) from 13.16 to 28.60 bar^-1. These findings confirm the effectiveness of this method and <strong>highlight</strong> its potential as a versatile approach for advancing membrane technology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124476"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144723159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"One-step sintering of three gradient hierarchical SiC ceramic membrane with high flux for ultrafine particle filtration","authors":"Wei Wei ,&nbsp;Qilian Li ,&nbsp;Guangyu Zhou ,&nbsp;Yiqing Zeng ,&nbsp;Feng Han ,&nbsp;Zhaoxiang Zhong ,&nbsp;Weihong Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124473","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124473","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The effective recovery of ultrafine nanoparticles below 100 nm has always been a challenge, especially under harsh conditions such as high temperature, high pressure and corrosion. In this study, three gradient hierarchical SiC ceramic membranes (labelled M_<em>x</em>I_<em>y</em>/WS, where M is the membrane layer; I is the intermediate layer; W is the whisker layer; S is the SiC support; and x and y are the SiC particle sizes used in the membrane and intermediate layers) with high flux were successfully constructed on the SiC support by one-step sintering. The influence of the spraying quantity on the whisker layer, intermediate layer, and membrane layer was investigated in detail to optimize the structural characteristics and particle classification matching of each layer. The optimal M₂₀I₅₀/WS had a pore size of 9.86 μm and a gas permeability of 601.7 m³ m⁻² h⁻¹·kPa⁻¹. During the 40th laboratory-level filtration cycle of ultrafine nanoparticles (d₅₀ = 50 nm), M₂₀I₅₀/WS exhibited an average filtration efficiency of 99.996 %, with an average filtration pressure drop of 392.4 Pa. Moreover, the magnified tubular SiC membranes were utilized for an industrial filtration experiment spanning 6 months at 300 °C; the filtration efficiency was always greater than 99.9 %, and the filtration pressure drop was 1870 Pa after 135 days. This work provides a feasible preparation strategy for SiC membranes with high flux and high efficiency for purifying industrial gas containing ultrafine particles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124473"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Highly permeable hybrid membranes constructed from MXene and TA-APTES nanoaggregates for effective dye/salt fractionation","authors":"Ting Li ,&nbsp;Rihuo Liu ,&nbsp;Siyuan Liu ,&nbsp;Jingjing Xu ,&nbsp;Jianyong Yu ,&nbsp;Leiming Guo ,&nbsp;Faxue Li","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124470","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124470","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The treatment of highly saline textile-related wastewater by MXene-based membranes has been demonstrated as the efficient and promising strategy for not only water purification but recovery of dyes and salts therein. However, the conventional MXene-based membranes designed by the tight stacking of 2D MXene flakes have stymied the advancement of highly permeable membranes regardless of the available superior selectivity. To tackle this issue, we attempt to relocate 2D MXene nanosheets in the constructed MXene-based membranes through chemosynthesis of tannic (TA)-3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) nanoaggregates. The TA-functionalized MXene nanosheets were assembled into 2D membranes followed by immersing into an ethanolic solution of APTES for generation of MXene-TA-AP hybrid membranes. The loosely stacked MXene nanosheets are surrounded by the generated TA-APTES nanoaggregates, thereby producing the highly permeable membranes with a water permeance of 698 L m⁻² h⁻¹·bar⁻¹. The unique asymmetric structures endow the membranes with an average effective pore size of ca. 1.04 nm. The differently charged dyes of brilliant blue (BB), rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO) as well as methylene blue (MB) were then rejected by the membranes with the rejection rates as high as 97.8 %, 96.3 %, 95.8 %, and 97 %, respectively. Meanwhile, the membranes can remove 1.5 %, 1.5 %, 1.6 %, and 1.6 % of the salts of NaCl, MgCl₂, Na₂SO₄, and MgSO₄ from water, respectively. Moreover, the separation factor of MXene-TA-AP for the fractionation of BB/MgSO₄ reaches up to 84.6. MXene-TA-AP greatly surpasses other previously reported membranes with the similar separation factors for the fractionation of dye/salt mixtures. The superior stability and antifouling performance of the membranes are further evidenced. This work paves a new way to construct highly permeable MXene-based membranes for effective dye/salt fractionation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124470"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synergetic effect of poly(fluoroalkylacrylate/decyl)methylsiloxane based membrane for long term performance stability during pervaporation of fermentation broth","authors":"Tatyana Rokhmanka ,&nbsp;Evgenia Grushevenko ,&nbsp;Yulia Bogdanova ,&nbsp;Julia Kostina ,&nbsp;Georgiy Golubev ,&nbsp;Alexey Volkov ,&nbsp;Ilya Borisov","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124465","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124465","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To reduce membrane fouling and increase separation performance during the separation of butanol from fermentation broth, novel membrane materials based on copolymers of polydecylmethylsiloxane and siloxanes containing fluoroalkyl acrylate side groups (with 3–6 fluorine atoms) were synthesized and investigated for the first time in the pervaporation process. The introduction of fluorine-containing groups into polysiloxanes resulted in a sharp decrease in the surface tension to a near constant value of 16–17 mJ/m², which in turn led to the hydrophobization of the polymer film's surface. Fluoro-containing polymers demonstrated higher sorption capacities for butanol, acetone, and ethanol compared to 0F. During the separation of a model ABE fermentation mixture using composite fluorosiloxanes based membranes, the partial fluxes of target components were approximately 1.5 times higher than those observed for the virgin polydecylmethylsiloxane membrane. The butanol/water separation factor increased with fluorine concentration in the membrane from 43.7 to 49.3. Membranes based on fluorosiloxanes demonstrated the highest resistance to fouling during the contact with real deactivated ABE-fermentation broth: the poly(pentafluoropropylacrylate/decyl)methylsiloxane based membrane maintained a steady total permeate flux of 3.4 kg μm/(m²·h) over 700 h of separation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124465"},"PeriodicalIF":9.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manipulating surface wettability of SiC MF membranes for high permeance and antifouling performance in sugarcane juice clarification","authors":"Wenkang Zhang,&nbsp;Qiqi Yang,&nbsp;Qilin Gu,&nbsp;Zheng Liang,&nbsp;Zhijun Xu,&nbsp;Zhaoxiang Zhong,&nbsp;Weihong Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124463","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124463","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ceramic membranes ultrafiltration (UF) has emerged as a promising alternative to the conventional clarification technology in sugarcane juice clarification industries, given their efficient and eco-friendly separation processes based on the size sieving effect. However, the upscaling application of ceramic UF membranes is still limited by their low permeate flux, high energy consumption and severe membrane fouling. Herein, to utilize the interactions at the interfaces, tubular SiC microfiltration (MF) membranes with special surface wettability were deliberately tailored through a novel penetration pressure counter-balanced crossflow method using 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane as a hydrophobic agent. The effect of an out-layer pressures (0–4.0 kPa) and flow rate (1.4–2.4 mL·s⁻¹) on surface wettability of membranes were studied, and those obtained membranes were applied in sugarcane juice clarification. The wettability, functional groups, binding energy, chemical compositions, and microstructure of modified SiC membranes were analyzed to elucidate their wettability-performance relationships. The performance of modified SiC MF membranes in sugarcane juice clarification were mainly evaluated by the flux decline profiles and permeate solution turbidity. The SiC membrane with hydrophobic inner wall (WCA = 142°) and hydrophilic outer surface (WCA = 0°) were achieved at out-layer pressure of 2.0 kPa and flow rate of 1.9 mL·s⁻¹. The results show that the SiC membrane with such asymmetric wettability exhibited ultra-high stable permeate flux (844 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹), satisfactory turbidity reduction rate (95.7 %), and relatively low flux decreased rate (64.4 %). The improved antifouling performance can be primarily attributed to the hydrophobic inner wall, and negatively charged pore wall. This work primarily demonstrates the application potential of ceramic MF membranes with asymmetric wettability for the effective sugarcane juice clarification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124463"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydroxyl-functionalised graphene quantum dots tailored thin film composite membranes for high-throughput and stable desalination by pervaporation","authors":"Guang Yang ,&nbsp;Yibing Guo ,&nbsp;Wenchen Dai ,&nbsp;Hongbin Jiang ,&nbsp;Jie Sun ,&nbsp;Zongli Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124464","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124464","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pervaporation (PV) demonstrates great potential in desalination applications due to its high separation efficiency. For practical implementation, there is a critical demand for membranes with inherent superior water transport properties. Herein, hybrid membranes composed of poly (vinyl-alcohol) (PVA), <span>dl</span>-malic acid (DMA) and nanosized hydroxyl-functionalised graphene quantum dots (HGQDs) were synthesised on porous polytetrafluoroethylene substrate. The morphology and physicochemical properties of the fabricated PVA-DMA-HGQDs (PMH) membranes were thoroughly characterised by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. Additionally, the hydrophilicity of membranes was analysed by water contact angle and degree of swelling. Benefiting from the effective regulation of water transport by the HGQDs in the polymer matrix, PV performance tests revealed that the PMH membrane with the optimal HGQDs content of 0.05 % exhibited a 325 % increase in water flux compared to the pure PVA membrane, reaching 24.59 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ with a salt rejection of 99.93 % at 30 °C. Moreover, the incorporation of HGQDs downgraded the apparent activation energy requirement for water transport through the membrane, thereby improving the energy efficiency for the PV process. To further investigate the stability of the membrane, landfill leachate was processed and the membrane exhibited an excellent water recovery rate up to 85 % without compromising selectivity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124464"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Core-shell structured fillers based on TpPa-1 covalently modified ZIF-90 for mixed matrix membranes enabling highly efficient CO2 separation","authors":"Jiankai Sun ,&nbsp;Yi Yang ,&nbsp;Chenyang Song ,&nbsp;Weifan Wang ,&nbsp;Cheng Wang ,&nbsp;Xiaowang Ren ,&nbsp;Ye Yuan ,&nbsp;Zhi Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124455","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124455","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Membrane separation technology is considered to possess significant potential in the reduction of energy consumption and improving efficiency in CO₂ capture. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) combine the inherent advantages of traditional polymer membranes and nanofiller, but the interfacial defect problem between nanofillers and polymers hinders the development of MMMs. Post-synthetic modification (functional group modification or polymer grafting) of fillers to reduce interfacial defects often leads to pore blockage of fillers, resulting in gas permeance loss of MMMs, especially those with small-pore ZIFs as fillers. In this work, we synthesized ZIF-90 nanofiller and fabricated hierarchical porous ZIF-90@TpPa-1 core-shell fillers via a core-shell strategy. By adjusting the shell thickness of TpPa-1, modified nanofillers with excellent CO₂ adsorption capacity were screened, while largely retaining the pore structure of ZIF-90. Compared with the original ZIF-90, the modified nanofiller exhibit better interfacial compatibility and excellent dispersibility within the polymer matrix. At a feed pressure of 0.2 MPa, the MMMs based on the above-mentioned nanofiller demonstrates an exceptional CO₂ permeance (2123 GPU) with a CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 203, which show an 84 % and 92 % increase over those of the Polyvinylamine (PVAm) membrane, respectively. These values significantly surpass the upper limit line proposed by McKeown in 2019. Furthermore, the high CO₂ permeance demonstrated by the MMM across various separation systems and under high-pressure conditions enhance the competitiveness of this study's membranes. The technical and economic assessment indicates that the MMM with the optimal performance has great application potential in the separation of CO₂ from post-combustion gas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124455"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144703137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Steam and methanol effects on H2 recovery and stage cut in Pd–Ni composite membranes","authors":"Mina Omidifar ,&nbsp;Ali Akbar Babaluo","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124462","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124462","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work reports a new, cost-effective method for fabricating Pd-based membranes, offering a promising alternative to conventional, high-cost pure Pd membranes for hydrogen separation. A thin (2 μm) and defect-free Pd–Ni composite membrane with a high Ni content (&gt;10 wt%) was fabricated using a new approach involving the organic-inorganic activation (OIA) process in the sequential electroless plating (ELP) technique on a modified alumina support. The microstructure and morphology of the membrane were examined using different analytical techniques. The membrane exhibited a hydrogen permeance of 2.2 × 10⁻⁷ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ with infinite ideal H₂/N₂ selectivity at 450 °C and a differential pressure of 100 kPa. The influence of feed components (such as H₂O and CH₃OH) on hydrogen recovery and stage cut of the membrane was studied at 200–350 °C and 10–50 kPa. The results show that the presence of steam and methanol as impurities in the feed, by creating a competitive adsorption phenomenon, reduces the hydrogen flux and subsequently decreases stage cut and hydrogen recovery of the membrane. This reduction intensified with increasing contaminant concentration in the feed, irrespective of the operating pressure and temperature. In all experiments, increasing the temperature and pressure difference improved stage cut and hydrogen recovery of the membrane.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124462"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144670547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of pervaporation membrane through polyphenol-assisted covalent assembly of sulfonated polyethyleneimine for efficient butanol dehydration","authors":"Marwin R. Gallardo ,&nbsp;John Ferdinand D. Garcia ,&nbsp;Alvin R. Caparanga ,&nbsp;Rhoda B. Leron ,&nbsp;Chi-Lan Li ,&nbsp;Hui-An Tsai ,&nbsp;Shu-Hsien Huang ,&nbsp;Kueir-Rarn Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124461","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124461","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Membrane separation through pervaporation has garnered significant attention as a promising technique for the dehydration of butanol. High performance pervaporation membranes require a surface layer enriched with hydrophilic functionalities and structural robustness. In this study, we report the fabrication of innovative composite membranes based on sulfonated polyethyleneimine (SPEI) and tannic acid (TA) using a covalent layer-by-layer assembly technique for efficient butanol dehydration. Initially, polyethyleneimine (PEI) was chemically modified with 1,3-propanesultone to introduce sulfonic acid groups, yielding SPEI. Subsequently, the SPEI was sequentially assembled onto a hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile support utilizing polyphenol-based chemistry, producing a dense, hydrophilic selective layer. Comprehensive membrane characterizations confirmed the successful deposition of SPEI and TA, resulting in significantly enhanced surface hydrophilicity and well-defined microstructures. Membrane performance evaluation through pervaporation demonstrated remarkable enhancement using SPEI-modified layers. Specifically, the optimized (SPEI₁/TA)_1.5 membrane showed a permeation flux of 623.5 ± 55.2 g m⁻² h⁻¹ and a permeate water content of 99.53 ± 0.38 wt%, achieving a separation factor and pervaporation separation index, which are approximately 8-fold and 10-fold higher, respectively, than those of the pristine (PEI₁/TA)_1.5 membrane. This exceptional separation efficiency is primarily attributed to intensified polar interactions between water molecules and the sulfonic acid functional groups on the membrane surface, significantly facilitating water transport. The developed membranes demonstrated excellent capability in surpassing the azeotropic limitation of <em>n</em>-butanol aqueous mixtures, highlighting their substantial potential for sustainable, energy-efficient industrial separation applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124461"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144702342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eco-friendly fabrication of hierarchical superhydrophobic nonwoven polyester membranes via sol-gel/phase inversion for ultra-high flux oil-water separation","authors":"Abdul Saeed ,&nbsp;Zulfiqar Ahmad Rehan ,&nbsp;Raziq Nawaz ,&nbsp;Deyi Zhan ,&nbsp;Muhammad Zahid ,&nbsp;Liu Zi-Hao ,&nbsp;Asif Ali Haider ,&nbsp;Shumaila Shareef ,&nbsp;Zhi-Wei Gao ,&nbsp;Xianghu Tang ,&nbsp;Jinhuai Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124460","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.memsci.2025.124460","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing environmental concerns arising from industrial oily wastewater and offshore oil spills necessitate the development of efficient, durable, and cost-effective oil-water separation technologies. This study fabricated a novel superhydrophobic nonwoven polyester (NWP) membrane using eco-friendly sol-gel and phase inversion methods. The membrane was engineered by integrating polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with hydrolyzed tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and vinyltris(2-methoxyethoxy)silane (VTMEOS), forming a robust and highly porous composite material. The unique hierarchical structure exhibited exceptional hydrophobicity, with a water contact angle exceeding 150°, and demonstrated remarkable mechanical and chemical stability across a pH range of 1–13. When tested in a custom-built low-pressure (0.02 MPa) filtration device, the hydrophobic membrane achieved an ultra-high flux rate of 19,400 Lm⁻²h⁻¹ and a separation efficiency of 99.9 % over 70 cycles. The membrane's porosity (87.17 %) and finely controlled pore size distribution (0.4–1.8 μm) significantly contributed to its enhanced separation performance. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations further validated the chemical interactions underlying the surface modification and hydrophobic behavior. This study presents a scalable and energy-efficient membrane system, which offers a promising platform for next-generation oil-water separation in environmental remediation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":368,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Science","volume":"734 ","pages":"Article 124460"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144670544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}