Work

Modification of Polysulfone Substrate with GO–PAMAM Nanocomposite for Improved Desalination Performance

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Globally, freshwater scarcity is driving the urgent demand for advanced and new desalination technologies to overcome the shortage of clean water. Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes dominate seawater and brackish water treatment but are limited by the permeability–selectivity trade-off, fouling, and structural instability. To overcome these challenges, we employed a phase inversion process to fabricate polysulfone (PSF) supports embedded with a graphene oxide–poly(amidoamine) (GO-PAMAM) nanocomposite at three concentrations (0.03, 0.06, and 0.10 wt%), alongside a pristine control membrane with no GO-PAMAM. Systematic variation in GO-PAMAM loading revealed that a 0.06 wt% nanoparticle helps in producing a more uniform polyamide layer that achieves a high NaCl rejection (95.88%) and higher water flux (42.6 L m−2 h−1). The performance was evaluated at an operating pressure of 20 bar with a feed flow rate of 4 L min−1. The optimized membrane also demonstrated an improved fouling resistance, retaining 93% of its initial flux after fouling. This scalable approach highlights substrate-level modification as an effective strategy for next-generation RO membranes, advancing sustainable and energy-efficient desalination to meet escalating global water demands.

Source: Membranes

DOI: 10.3390/membranes16030101

Authors: Mohd Muzammil Zubair, Ahmed T. Yasir, Abdelbaki Benamor, Syed Javaid Zaidi

Institutions: Qatar University, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change

Language: English

Topic: Membrane Separation Technologies

Subfield: Water Science and Technology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Clean water and sanitation, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,654