Efficient removal of dyes from water by high flux and superior antifouling polyethersulfone hollow fiber membranes modified with ZnO/cGO nanohybrid

The removal of dyes from the water discharged by the dye industries is one of the major concerns of the scientific community. Membrane technology, owing to its numerous advantages, can be useful in mitigating this problem. In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles-dispersed carboxylated graphene oxide nanosheets (ZnO/cGO nanohybrid) were synthesized, characterized and embedded in hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) to efficiently remove dyes from water. The physiochemical characterization of these membranes was carried out to elucidate the positive effect of ZnO/cGO nanohybrid on surface functionality, hydrophilicity, mechanical strength, thermal stability, surface potential, and surface roughness. The pure water permeability, antifouling property, and rejection of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) were also measured using these membranes. With 0.5 wt. % ZnO/cGO nanohybrid in HFMs, the pure water permeability was calculated to be 358.5 +/- 14.9 mL/m(2)/h/mmHg. Remarkably, flux recovery of 98.5% was measured. The MB and Rh.B rejection values were 98.6 +/- 1.4% and 98.5 +/- 1.1%, respectively. Clearly, this work experimentally showed that the addition of ZnO/cGO nanohybrid in PES HFMs resulted in high water flux, superior antifouling property, and high dye rejection. Thus, the novel ZOGP HFMs are potentially efficacious membranes for dye removal from water.