Pervaporation Applications Research Articles

Metal cation crosslinked, partially reduced graphene oxide membranes with enhanced stability for high salinity, produced water treatment by pervaporative separation

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes hold significant promise for applications ranging from energy storage to protective coatings, to saline water and produced water treatment, owing to their chemical stability and unique barrier properties achieving a high selectivity for water permeation. However, unmodified GO membranes are not stable when submerged in liquid water, creating challenges with their commercial utilization in aqueous filtration and pervaporation applications. To mitigate this, we develop an approach to modify GO membranes through a combination of low temperature thermal reduction and metal cation crosslinking. We demonstrate that Zn2+–rGO and Fe3+–rGO membranes had the highest permeation flux of 8.3 ± 1.5 l m−2 h−1 and 7.0 ± 0.4 l m−2 h−1, for saline water separation, respectively, when thermally reduced after metal cross-linking; These membranes maintained a high flux of 7.5 ± 0.7 l m−2 h−1, and 5.5 ± 0.3 l m−2 h−1 for produced water separation, respectively. All the membranes had a salt rejection higher than 99%. Fe3+ crosslinked membranes presented the highest organic solute rejections for produced water of 69%. Moreover, long term pervaporation testing was done for the Zn2+–rGO membrane for 12 h, and only a minor drop of 6% in permeation flux was observed, while Zn2+–GO had a drop of 24%. Both modifiers significantly enhanced the stability with Fe3+–rGO membranes displaying the highest mechanical abrasion resistance of 95% compared to non-reduced and non-crosslinked GO. Improved stability for all samples also led to higher selectivity to water over organic contaminants and only slightly reduced water flux across the membrane.

Hydrophilic 2D composite LDHs-MXene pervaporation membrane for highly efficient ethanol dehydration

Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) demonstrate significant potential for pervaporation applications. Nevertheless, single lamella 2D materials are prone to stacking problems in membranes, resulting in unforeseen matrix inhomogeneity and defects. Here, we propose a wafer-like membrane structure designed for ethanol dehydration. This structure features a surface modification of transition metal carbides (MXenes) with layered dihydroxides (LDHs), which effectively enlarges the interlayer spacing and ameliorates the stacking issue. The LDHs-modified MXenes were then incorporated into the sodium alginate (SA) layer. The hydrophilicity, stability and morphology of the MMM were evaluated by water contact angle measurements, swelling tests and scanning electron microscopy. The experiment results indicated the hydrophilicity and stability of the MMM were effectively improved. The novel L-M@CS MMM exhibited outstanding dehydration performance for ethanol solution, with the membrane containing 0.4 wt % LDHs-modified MXenes achieving the highest permeation flux of 1377 g/(m2·h) and the optimal separation factor up to 1650.

Mixed-linker MOF-303 membranes for pervaporation

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hold great promise as porous materials for pervaporation applications. However, the exploration of MOF membranes in this field is still in its early stages. One of the main challenges is the relatively low mass flux and stability of pure MOF membranes compared to other materials used in pervaporation. In this study, we propose a novel approach to enhance the separation performance of MOF membranes for water and ethanol separation. Our strategy involves incorporating the 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylic acid (TDC) linker into the MOF-303 structure, partially replacing the 3,5-pyrazoledicarboxylic acid (PDC) linker. The goal is to increase the aperture size of the microporous channels in the pristine MOF-303 membrane, thereby improving the mass flux. X-ray diffraction characterization, combined with Rietveld refinement, confirmed that the partial substitution of PDC with TDC resulted in an increased pore-limiting diameter (PLD) of MOF-303. For instance, the pristine MOF-303 exhibited a PLD of 5.78 Å, while MOF-303(70/30) with 70% TDC replacement displayed a PLD of 6.02 Å. To fabricate the mixed-linker MOF-303 membranes, we utilized a seeded growth method, which yielded membranes with dense layers, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and air permeation characterization. The prepared membranes were subjected to pervaporation tests to evaluate their performance in separating 90 wt.% ethanol at 60 °C. The pristine MOF-303 membrane exhibited notable separation capabilities, with an average flux of 0.071 kg·m−2·hr−1 and a water/ethanol separation factor of 5371. Surpassing the unmodified MOF-303, the mixed-linker MOF-303(50/50) membrane demonstrated improved mass flux and water/ethanol separation factor. Specifically, the MOF-303(50/50) membrane displayed an average flux of 0.092 kg·m−2·hr−1 and a water/ethanol separation factor of 8500. Importantly, the unmodified MOF-303 membrane exhibited instability during prolonged pervaporation operation, whereas the mixed-linker MOF-303(50/50) membrane effectively addressed this issue. Further analysis using in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and water adsorption characterization revealed that MOF-303(50/50) possessed a strong affinity for water, comparable to the pristine MOF-303. Overall, our study highlights the potential of the mixed-linker approach to optimize the separation performance and stability of MOF-based membranes for pervaporation application.

Synergistically tailoring the hierarchical channel structure of graphene oxide membrane through co-assembly strategy for high-performance butanol dehydration

A significant boost in permeate flux along with the desirable separation factor remains a challenging issue for graphene oxide (GO) membranes in pervaporation applications. Herein, a facile approach of co-assembling pristine and etched GO nanosheets was proposed to tailor the hierarchical channel structure (involving the slits, defects and interlayer galleries) of GO membrane and achieve remarkable improvements in both the permeate flux and water/butanol separation factor. Pristine GO nanosheets guarantee a defect-free membrane structure, while etched GO (eGO) provides abundant defects/slits for molecular transport, thus reducing molecular diffusion resistance and doubling permeate flux. The introduction of eGO confers a more ordered nanosheet assembly and narrower interlayer spacing, thus strengthening the size-exclusion effect of the interlayer channels towards butanol molecules and realizing a 3-times enhancement in the separation factor. The subsequent intercalation of Congo red (CR) molecules ulteriorly optimizes the interlayer channels and results in the superior water/butanol separation factor of 5705 with the permeate flux of 4.81 kg/(m2h). This work provides a facile and feasible method for constructing high-performance GO-based membranes with great potential for practical butanol dehydration process.

Merging Proline:Xylitol Eutectic Solvent in Crosslinked Chitosan Pervaporation Membranes for Enhanced Water Permeation in Dehydrating Ethanol.

The scope of this research aims at merging a new deep eutectic mixture (DES) into a biopolymer-based membrane for a pervaporation application in dehydrating ethanol. Herein, an L-proline:xylitol (at 5:1) eutectic mixture was successfully synthesized and blended with chitosan (CS). A complete characterization of the hybrid membranes, in terms of morphology, solvent uptake, and hydrophilicity, has been conducted. As part of their applicability, the blended membranes were assayed for their ability to separate water from ethanolic solutions by means of pervaporation. At the highest temperature (50 °C), a water permeation of ca. 0.46 kg m-2 h-1 was acquired, representing a higher permeation than the pristine CS membranes (ca. 0.37 kg m-2 h-1). Therefore, CS membranes demonstrated an enhanced water permeation thanks to their blending with the hydrophilic L-proline:xylitol agent, making these membranes a good candidate for other separations containing polar solvents.

Performance tuning of chitosan-based membranes by protonated 2-Pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid-sulfolane DES for effective water/ethanol separation by pervaporation

Today, the applicability of deep eutectic solvents (DES) in various fields, including membrane science and technology, is extensively investigated. In pioneering works, we have implemented different DES as a component of chitosan (CS)-based flat membranes for pervaporation (PV) separation. Herein, we present a new protonated (by sulphuric acid) 2-Pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid: sulfolane DES, as a green additive for its chemical blending and thus study its effect in CS structure. The resultant flat CS-based membranes have been characterized and tested for their ability in separating water molecules from ethanolic mixtures (10 wt% water in ethanol) using PV. Experiments revealed a progressive increase in total permeation along with increase of temperature in the range of 20–50 °C. Simultaneously, the value of separation factor was reduced. The maximum permeation (approximately 0.44 kg m−2 h−1) was observed for the highest experimental temperature, in which water was the main component, while the highest separation factor (approximately 518) was observed for lowest operating temperature. It was confirmed that application of selected DES allowed to improve the permeation rates in comparison with the bare CS membrane. As a perspective, such membranes could be tested for another hydrophilic pervaporation applications for the removal of polar compounds – with high applicability in biorefineries.

Graphene Oxide-Carbon Nanotube (GO-CNT) Hybrid Mixed Matrix Membrane for Pervaporative Dehydration of Ethanol.

The pervaporation process is an energy-conservative and environmentally sustainable way for dehydration studies. It efficiently separates close boiling point and azeotrope mixtures unlike the distillation process. The separation of ethanol and water is challenging as ethanol and water form an azeotrope at 95.6 wt.% of ethanol. In the last few decades, various polymers have been used as candidates in membrane preparation for pervaporation (PV) application, which are currently used in the preparation of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for ethanol recovery and ethanol dehydration but have not been able to achieve an enhanced performance both in terms of flux and selectivity. Composite membranes comprising of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) incorporated with carboxylated carbon nanotubes (CNT-COOH), graphene oxide (GO) and GO-CNT-COOH mixtures were fabricated for the dehydration of ethanol by pervaporation (PV). The membranes were characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Raman spectroscopy, Raman imaging, contact angle measurement, and water sorption to determine the effects of various nanocarbons on the intermolecular interactions, surface hydrophilicity, and degrees of swelling. The effects of feed water concentration and temperature on the dehydration performance were investigated. The incorporation of nanocarbons led to an increase in the permeation flux and separation factor. At a feed water concentration of 10 wt.%, a permeation flux of 0.87 kg/m2.h and a separation factor of 523 were achieved at 23 °C using a PVA-GO-CNT-COOH hybrid membrane.

Design of a Gas Permeation and Pervaporation Membrane Model for an Open Source Process Simulation Tool.

Gas permeation and pervaporation are technologies that emerged several decades ago. Even though they have discovered increasing popularity for industrial separation processes, they are not represented equally within process simulation tools except for commercial systems. The availability of such a numerical solution shall be extended due to the design of a membrane model with Visual Basic based on the solution-diffusion model. Although this works approach is presented for a specific process simulator application, the algorithm can generally be transferred to any other programming language and process simulation solver, which allows custom implementations or modeling. Furthermore, the modular design of the model enables its further development by operators through the integration of physical effects. A comparison with experimental data of gas permeation and pervaporation applications as well as other published simulation data delivers either good accordance with the results or negligible deviations of less than 1% from other data.

Fabrication of ternary polyvinyl alcohol/tetraethyl orthosilicate/silicotungstic acid hybrid membranes for pervaporation dehydration of alcohol

Herein, we present simple method of fabrication and pervaporation application of organic/inorganic ternary nanocomposite membranes. These are obtained from novel combination of poly(vinyl alcohol)/tetraethyl orthosilicate (PVA/TEOS) along with incorporation of silicotungstic acid (STA) nanoparticles via solution casting method. Physico-chemical structure has been confirmed by using various characterization tools. Pervaporation efficiency of these new nanocomposite membranes in terms of flux and separation factor is investigated for one of the important processes of ethanol separation (azeotropic mixture separation) from its aqueous solution. Dramatically boosted pervaporation separation efficiency by PVA/TEOS membranes has been observed as a result of STA incorporation. The results are also confirmed by calculating diffusion coefficients and activation energies using Fick’s and Arrhenius equations, respectively.

Brine desalination via pervaporation using kaolin-intercalated hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile membranes

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) has been mostly used as a base polymer for asymmetric membrane synthesis with the aim of pervaporation (PV) applications, since it has a superior hydrophilicity and the ability to become hydrolyzed with an alkaline solution. Nonetheless, PAN and hydrolyzed PAN membranes have shown moderate permeate fluxes along with a mechanical softness. In this study, we aimed to improve the PV performance by exploring the possible effect of the hydrolysis of a novel mixed matrix membrane based on PAN and kaolin. Specifically, 15% PAN was used as a dope solution along with varying concentrations (2, 5, 7, and 10%) of kaolin to synthesize mixed matrix membranes using a non-solvent-induced phase separation technique. The 2% kaolin addition maximized the hydrophilicity and water sorption capacity of the membrane by developing well-organized, deep channel structures with increased porosity, membrane thickness, and surface roughness. The tensile strength was also the highest with the 2% kaolin addition. Further hydrolysis of the 2% kaolin-embedded PAN caused an extra enhancement of its hydrophilicity with a decrease of pore size due to the amplified carboxylic group density. PV performance tests under different salt concentrations confirmed that the hydrolyzed PAN membrane with a 2% kaolin intercalation had an outstanding permeation flux of 82 kg m-2h−1 and 59 kg m-2h−1 as well as a salt rejection of 99.93% and 99.91% with a 3.5% and 10% NaCl solution, respectively, at a 65 °C feed temperature.

Zeolite membranes: Synthesis and applications

Membrane-based technology has attracted considerable attention owing to its low energy consumption, mild operating conditions, and high efficiency. Polymeric membranes are widely utilized in different separation processes for their low cost and highly reproducible preparation. Fouling and the trade-off between permeability and selectivity represent the main drawbacks in the polymeric membrane field. These problems could be overcome by using inorganic membranes that are less prone to fouling due to their hydrophilic nature, high chemical stability, and high permeability and selectivity. Zeolite membranes, a type of inorganic membranes, can separate liquid and gas species (with very similar size and shape) thanks to their defined pore size at a molecular level and high adsorption property. They are studied in different separation processes as gas separation, pervaporation, and desalination. However, they find application, at the industrial level, only for alcohol dehydration by pervaporation process. Indeed, although 30 years are passed since the first scientific papers about the zeolite membrane preparation, many problems are still unsolved, as reproducibility of the synthesis, defects into the zeolite layer, and high manufacturing costs, which caused a limitation to their application on a large scale. In this review, the main zeolite membrane preparation methods and the novelty in their developing and fabricating have been analyzed. Their application in pervaporation and desalination has been discussed. The effect of zeolite membrane topology and chemical composition on natural gas purification has been presented in detail. The application of zeolite membrane reactors in different interesting processes has been discussed. Concluding remarks and future perspective have been also suggested.

Sustainable fabrication and pervaporation application of bio-based membranes: Combining a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) as biopolymer and Cyrene™ as green solvent

Within the prospect to develop a more sustainable solution for the membrane fabrication sector, this work aims to investigate a new combination of bio-based materials, including a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) as a polymer and Cyrene™ as a solvent, for the phase inversion process. The herein studied poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBHV) is a microbial biopolymer with excellent biocompatible, biodegradable and solvent resistance properties; while Cyrene™ is a non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable alternative to most of the traditionally used polar aprotic solvents.Several parameters of the phase inversion process were studied in order to identify the different membrane microstructure possibilities and thus their final performances. The various studied process parameters include the evaporation time before coagulation, the use of different traditional and green additives, the concentration of polymer and additives into the dope solution and the molecular weight of the additives. Polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and an epoxidized broccoli vegetable oil (EBO) were successfully used as pore former agents for these membranes. Developed membranes were fully characterized in terms of morphology, topography, surface wettability, pore size, porosity, thermal degradation, mechanical resistance and stability. After all, membranes exhibiting different architectures (from porous to dense) were obtained. In order to prove their applicability, dense membranes were finally successfully applied in pervaporation (PV) for the separation of an organic/organic azeotropic mixture.

Alicyclic Polyimide/SiO2 Mixed Matrix Membranes for Water/n-Butanol Pervaporation

Alicyclic polyimides (PIs) have excellent properties in solubility, mechanical strength, thermal property, etc. This study developed two types of alicyclic PI-based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for water/n-butanol pervaporation application, which have never been investigated previously. The fillers were hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles. The synthesized PI was mixed with SiO2 nanoparticles in DMAc to make the casting solution, and a liquid film was formed over PET substrate using doctor blade. A dense MMM was fabricated at 80 °C and further treated via multi-stage curing (100–170 °C). The prepared membranes were characterized by FTIR, TGA, FE-SEM, water contact angle, and solvent swelling. The trends of pure solvent swelling effects agree well with the water contact angle results. Moreover, the pervaporation efficiencies of alicyclic PI/SiO2 MMMs for 85 wt% n-butanol aqueous solution at 40 °C were investigated. The results showed that BCDA-3,4′-ODA/SiO2 MMMs had a larger permeation flux and higher separation factor than BCDA-1,3,3-APB/SiO2 MMMs. For both types of MMMs, the separation factor increased first and then decreased, with increasing SiO2 loading. Based on the PSI performance, the optimal SiO2 content was 0.5 wt% for BCDA-3,4′-ODA/SiO2 MMMs and 5 wt% for BCDA-1,3,3-APB/SiO2 MMMs. The overall separation efficiency of BCDA-3,4′-ODA-based membranes was 10–30-fold higher.

Esterleşme Reaksiyonlarında Katalitik Membran Destekli Pervaporasyon Uygulamaları

The development of the chemical industry has resulted in the usage more solvents in various chemical and physical processes. The increase in the amount of used solvent also increases the economic burden to the industry. The recovery, reuse, and purification of solvents became the essential requirements of the industry. In addition, the obtainment of high-quality, economic product with low environmental impact and high yield is important. The catalytic membrane aided pervaporation application is considered as one of the new alternative solutions of both reaction and separation problems in the industries. Catalytic membrane aided pervaporation application is one of the developing membrane technologies. It is a hybrid and integrated process combining separation and reaction units. This article is concentrated on catalytic membrane aided pervaporation applications of the esterification reactions. Some important information about catalytic membrane, pervaporation and catalytic membrane aided pervaporation has been firstly reported. Different configurations of catalytic membrane aided pervaporation have been defined and explained. Advantages of the hybrid catalytic membrane aided pervaporation processes have been listed. The factors affecting the catalytic membrane aided pervaporation are briefly discussed. The important catalytic membrane aided pervaporation, reaction conditions and the obtained results in literature are also summarized. The important catalytic membrane aided pervaporation studies in literature, operation conditions and the obtained results have been summarized.

Graphene-based membranes for pervaporation processes

Two-dimensional graphene and its derivatives exhibiting distinct physiochemical properties are intriguing building blocks for researchers from a large variety of scientific fields. Assembling graphene-based materials into membrane layers brings great potentials for high-efficiency membrane processes. Particularly, pervaporation by graphene-based membranes has been intensively studied with respect to the membrane design and preparation. This review aims to provide an overview on the graphene-based membranes for pervaporation processes ranged from fabrication to application. Physical or chemical decoration of graphene-based materials is elaborated regarding their effects on the microstructure and performance. The mass transport of pervaporation through graphene-based membranes is introduced, and relevant mechanisms are described. Furthermore, performances of state-of-the-art graphene-based membranes for different pervaporation applications are summarized. Finally, the perspectives of current challenges and future directions are presented. Open Science Identity: • Typical fabrication methods of graphene-based membranes with laminated and hybrid structures are clarified. • Latest advances in structure control of graphene-based pervaporation membranes are reviewed. • Possible transport mechanisms of pervaporation by graphene-based membrane are described. • Separation performances of graphene-based membranes in different pervaporation applications are summarized.

Understanding the transport enhancement of poly (vinyl alcohol) based hybrid membranes with dispersed nanochannels for pervaporation application

Hybrid membranes, featuring combinations of inorganic and organic materials at the nanometre or molecular level, have been widely reported as providing superior separation performance compared with the traditional polymeric membranes. However, for rational design of membranes, there remains a major doubt as to how each constituent functions in the separation process. Herein, carbon nanotube (CNT) incorporated poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were analysed using pervaporation (PV) process for aqueous mixture separation. The impacts of CNT on the functional properties, morphologies and microscale structures of the PVA/CNT hybrid membranes was investigated by ATR-FTIR, AFM, SEM and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). Further, a comparison of the interactions between the membrane and solvents (water and ethanol) were identified by swelling test and XRD. The resultant PVA/CNT hybrid membranes were then subject to both desalination and dehydration of ethanol. The results showed that PVA exhibited preferential adsorption of water over ethanol. The addition of CNT enlarged the fractional free volume (FFV) and enhanced water diffusivity (up to 185%), which indicated a diffusion-dominated type of the PVA/CNT hybrid membranes with a synergistic effect of CNT on water transport. The transport of Na+ ions through the membrane was examined to be with larger activation energy than that of ethanol during the separation process. This work investigated the state of polymer as well as the effect of nanofillers in the separation of water vs. non-volatile or volatile component for the first time, which can provide in-depth understanding of the polymer-based hybrid membranes for practical applications.

High-performance pervaporation chitosan-based membranes: new insights and perspectives

Abstract Today, the need of replacing synthetic polymers in the membrane preparation for diverse pervaporation (PV) applications has been recognized collectively and scientifically. Chitosan (CS), a bio-polymer, has been studied and proposed to achieve this goal especially in specific azeotropic water-organic, organic-water, and organic-organic separations, as well as in assisting specific processes (e.g. seawater desalination and chemical reactions). Different concepts of CS-based membranes have been developed, which include material blending and composite and mixed matrix membranes which have been tested for different separations. Hereby, the goal of this review is to provide a critical overview of the ongoing CS-based membrane developments, paying a special attention to the most relevant findings and results in the field. Furthermore, future trends of CS-based membranes in PV technology are presented, as well as concluding remarks and suggested strategies for the new scientist in the field.

A drying-free and one-step process for the preparation of siloxane/CS mixed-matrix membranes with outstanding ethanol dehydration performances

In this study, tetraethyl orthosilicate-derived (TEOS-derived) siloxanes were successfully incorporated into chitosan (CS) membranes to form siloxane/CS mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) via a drying-free and one-step process. Compared with the two-step process for the formation of MMMs in the previous literature, the one-step process of membrane preparation has the advantages of a decrease in the membrane formation time and the prevention of particle aggregation to form uniform and smooth MMMs. The siloxane/CS MMMs were used to separate a mixture of ethanol/water in the pervaporation process at 25 °C. MMMs with different siloxane concentrations, such as 0.025, 0.05, 0.15, 0.3 and 0.5 wt%, have been investigated, and MMMs with 0.05 wt% siloxanes (0.05 wt% MMMs) have the best pervaporation performance, with flux, separation factor and pervaporation separation index (PSI) values of 468 g/m2h, 2182 and 1021 kg/m2h, respectively. The pervaporation performance of 0.05 wt% siloxane/CS MMMs is better than that of CS-based membranes and other MMMs, as reported in the previous literature. As a result, the as-prepared siloxane/CS MMMs with 0.05 wt% siloxane loading show great potential for future industrial pervaporation applications.

Preparation of submicron PAF-56 particles and application in pervaporation

Abstract Submicron PAF-56 particles with narrow size-distribution were prepared by bottom-up method for the first time, and incorporated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes for pervaporation of 5% n-butanol solution. The effects of PAF-56 loading on the hydrophilicity, swelling degree, partition coefficient and pervaporation performance of the mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) were studied. It was found that, the PAF-56/PDMS MMMs displayed n-butanol sorption-selectivity, and the permeation flux and separation factor increased with the decreased PAF-56 particles size at the same loading, demonstrating size-effects of PAF-56 particles. With the increased PAF-56 loading, the permeation flux and separation factor exhibited maximum values at 2–2.5% loading. For MMMs with PAF-56 size of 0.83 μm and 2.5 wt% loading, the separation factor and permeation fluxes were 48.4 and 1906 g m−2 h−1 (increased by 183% and 66% in comparison with that of pristine PDMS membrane), indicating great potential in recovery of n-butanol.

Enhanced pervaporation performance of polyamide membrane with synergistic effect of porous nanofibrous support and trace graphene oxide lamellae

Electrospun nanofibrous membrane as a supporting layer has attracted great interests in fabricating high performance composite membranes due to its interconnected porous structure. However, it’s still a challenge to prepare an ultrathin and integrated skin layer on porous and undulating nanofibrous support, thereby restricting its application in pervaporation. Here, graphene oxide (GO) was introduced into amine aqueous phase to form an integrated and compact polyamide (PA) layer on nanofibrous substrate via interfacial polymerization (IP). Under the synergistic effect of high permeability of the nanofibrous scaffold and flexibility of GO lamellae, tiled GO lamellae acting as a skeleton got involved in the initial reaction for the construction of selective PA layer. By loading trace amount of GO in aqueous phase during IP, the selectivity of PA layer was enhanced significantly compared with that of pristine PA layer on nanofibrous scaffold. High permeate flux of 6593 g/m2h with a desirable separation factor of 1491 was achieved using the hybrid membrane with just 0.001 wt% of GO loading for pervaporation dehydrating 90 wt% isopropanol aqueous solution at 70 °C. These results indicated the feasibility of constructing a single homogeneous selective layer on nanofibrous support for high-performance pervaporation process.