Fabrication and Characterization of Polyacrylonitrile/Polyethylene Glycol Electrospun Membrane for Oily Wastewater Treatment

ABSTRACT This study aims to develop a hydrophilic membrane characterized by effective antifouling behavior and high oily wastewater (OW) treatment efficiency. The membrane is composed of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as the main component and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an additive in different contents. Electrospinning, recognized as a highly efficient and versatile technique, was employed to fabricate the membranes. The samples underwent comprehensive physicochemical characterization, including SEM, AFM, FTIR spectroscopy, tensile testing, porosity analysis, water uptake measurement, and water contact angle determination. The average diameter of the prepared nanofibers and water contact angles decreased from 340.3 nm with 87.2° to 221.4 nm with 16.9° for PAN/20PEG. In contrast, porosity and water uptake increased with the addition of PEG. Among the fabricated membranes, the electrospun PAN/15PEG exhibited enhanced surface roughness. The membrane with 20% PEG exhibited the highest flux recovery ratio (FRR) among all the membranes. Notably, TOC analysis of the OW samples after filtration indicated that all the membranes could reduce TOC levels, with the PAN/15PEG demonstrating the best performance. These findings suggest that the modified PAN membranes, enhanced with PEG, are promising candidates for efficient OW purification.