Separation Of Oily Wastewater Research Articles

Multifunctional PAN UF membrane modified with 3D-MXene/O-MWCNT nanostructures for the removal of complex oil and dyes from industrial wastewater

• Fusiform 3D MXene/O-MWCNT nanostructure was successfully synthesized. • Multifunctional MXene/O-MWCNT@PAN UF membrane was fabricated via phase inversion. • The synergy of MXene/O-MWCNT enhance the flux and rejection of oil and soluble dye. • Outstanding antifouling and recyclable properties were achieved by the membranes. • The membranes exhibited excellent chemical stability in harsh condition. Despite advances in membrane technology, the separation of complex oily wastewater using membrane filtration remains a daunting challenge for the industry. Recent approaches including membrane modification with two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets, showed susceptibility to swelling, fouling, and instability during operation. As a game-changer approach, a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) UF membrane modified with 3D nanostructured composite of MXene and O-MWCNT was introduced for the first time to treat complex oily wastewater. The composite membrane showed high separation performance of soluble dye-oil-water emulsion while maintaining high water permeability. Moreover, during the operational period, the composite membrane exhibits excellent antifouling and anti-swelling properties due to the synergetic effects conferred by the 3D nanostructures. Furthermore, the composite membrane possesses remarkable chemical stability evidenced by its high corrosion resistance when exposed to a strong acid (3 M HCl) and oxidant (NaOCl) solution for a long-time period. Overall, the operational stability was maintained in terms of flux and high rejection of oil and dye over a 45 h long-term operation. Consequently, this work provides an innovative, stable, and highly facile process for fabricating scalable UF composite membrane for the treatment of complex oily wastewater in a harsh chemical environment.

A tree-grapes-like PTFE fibrous membrane with super-hydrophobic and durable performance for oil/water separation

• Ultrafine tree-grapes-like PTFE fibrous membrane was fabricated. • The size and number of grapes can be controlled. • Superhydrophobic (154.6°) and high porosity (94.2%). • Ultrahigh permeability (3200 L m -2 h −1 ) and high efficiency (greater than99%). • The membrane showed long-term, stable and efficient separation ability. Recently, the membranes with durable and highly efficient separation performances for the purification of oil/water emulsions have drawn wide concern due to the great potential application in solving the problem of offshore oil spill and the discharge of oily wastewater. However, the crucial issues of low-permeability and severe membrane fouling seriously affect their application. Herein, we created an ultrafine tree-grapes-like poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) fibrous membrane (UTPFM), which aimed to provide a fibrous membrane with ultrahigh permeability and separation efficiency. The fibrous membrane with regular grapes on fiber surface was fabricated by sintering electro-centrifugal spinning ultrafine fibrous poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)/PTFE membranes. The size and number of grapes could be simply controlled by the PVP/PTFE ratios, and brought water contact angle (WCA) of obtained fibrous membrane up to 154.6°. As a result, the obtained fibrous membrane presented ultrahigh permeability up to 3200 L m -2 h −1 and high separation efficiency more than 99%. Moreover, the grape structures on fiber surface were demonstrated to bring without any changes after 1000 cycles of abrasion. Therefore, the obtained membrane exhibits a great potential application in the long-term, stable and efficient oily wastewater separation.

Recyclable amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes for the separation of oily wastewater

In this work, a CNTs-NH2 demulsifier was prepared by grafting ethylenediamine on the surface of carbon nanotubes to break oily wastewater. The physicochemical and interfacial properties of CNTs-NH2 were characterized and analyzed. It showed that CNTs-NH2 had an eminent amphipathicity and high interfacial activity, which allows it to sharply migrates to the interface and effectively interacts with interfacial film by the combined action of π-π interaction and electrostatic attraction. The demulsification tests exhibited that CNTs-NH2 could effectively remove emulsified oil from the oily wastewater. It could be used at acidic and neutral conditions, and high salinity. Moreover, it could be recycled and still maintained its interfacial activity, thusly vastly enhancing the application scope. The light transmittance was up to 88.1% and the corresponding oil removal rate was 99.2% with 100 mg/L of CNTs-NH2 for 30 min. The oil removal rate of CNTs-NH2 remained above 97.8% after 6 cycles. This work provides a deep understanding on the design of demulsifier and its demulsification mechanism.

Robust self-cleaning urchin-like Ni/Co LDH stainless steel mesh for gravity-driven oil/water emulsion separation and catalytic degradation of aromatic dyes

In the face of frequent oil spills and dye emissions, membrane technology is an efficient method to treat wastewater. However, selectivity, membrane fouling and high operating pressure are tricky problems for practical membrane applications. Hence, it is desirable to design a novel membrane with high selectivity, high flux and superior antifouling properties for gravity-driven separation of complex oily wastewater. In this study, bioinspired by sea urchins with good self-cleaning properties, an urchin-like Ni/Co layered double hydroxide (LDH) surface was grown onto stainless steel mesh (SSM) via a facile hydrothermal method. Due to the unique hierarchical architecture and surface chemistry, Ni/[email protected] displays a robust self-cleaning oil-repellent ability without hydration. Combining the unique superwettability and highly porous nanostructure, Ni/[email protected] could be used to separate various oil/water mixtures and emulsions efficiently under only gravity-driven conditions. In addition, Ni/[email protected] exhibits great catalytic degradation ability of dye solutions in a short time. Notably, Ni/[email protected] displays excellent physical, chemical and thermal stability in acidic, alkaline and saline environments. Consequently, Ni/[email protected] possesses broad application prospects with superior self-cleaning and outstanding catalytic degradation ability of aromatic dyes. It shows promising application value in practical complex oily wastewater treatment without complicated operations and chemicals.

Mussel-inspired superhydrophilic membrane constructed on a hydrophilic polymer network for highly efficient oil/water separation

HypothesisSuperhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic membrane constructed by hydrophilic polymers possesses great advantage in the separation of oily waste water, due to its intrinsic oil-repellent property. The formation of hydration layer to repel and block oil is considered as the mechanism of underwater superoleophobicity and subsequent oil/water separation. Constructing a stable hydrophilic polymer network on the substrate surface would significantly improve the robustness of hydration layer. ExperimentsIn this work, a feasible and universal mussel-inspired dip-coating method was developed for constructing stable hydrophilic polymer network onto target substrate surface, via successively immersing substrate membranes into aqueous solutions of polydopamine (PDA) and catechol-functionalized hydrophilic polymer (CFHP). After pre-wetting with water, the polymer network would swell with water to form a thin and stable water film layer, serving as a barrier against oil penetration. FindingsThe as-prepared CFHP/PDA modified membranes exhibit outstanding performance in separating various oil/water mixtures and oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by surfactants, with separation flux up to 5641.1 L·m−2·h−1 and separation efficiency achieving 99.98%. The surface modification method developed in this work can be easily extended to various materials and membrane systems, for achieving a variety of practical applications such as industrial wastewater treatment.

Polyvinylidene fluoride-cellulose nanocrystals hybrid nanofiber membrane for energy harvesting and oil-water separation applications

In this communication, we report a smart membrane for both energy harvesting and oil/water separation application. The membrane was manufactured from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber blended with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as a sustainable material. A promising result in energy harvesting from the cyclic load effect and in oil/water separation was achieved. The developed membranes were characterized for their morphology, functional group, and surface properties using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and water contact angle (WCA), respectivley. The membrane shows piezoelectric response result about 3.5 V and 10 nA corresponding to PVDF membrane comparing to PVDF@CNCs membrane. However, in oil/water separation application, PVDF@CNCs shows higher water flux (85646.43 ml/m2.h) comparing to pristine PVDF membrane (73589.29 ml/m2.h). These resulted membranes are promising in oily wastewater separation and in the application of powering sensors that capable of measuring water quality after separation and treatment process.

Hierarchically superhydrophilic poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane with self-cleaning fabricated by surface mineralization for stable separation of oily wastewater

Long-term separation of highly emulsified oily wastewater is still challenging in advanced membrane technologies. Herein, β-FeOOH nanorods were in-situ inlaid on a hierarchically superhydrophilic poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) ultrafiltration membrane surface via a facile biomimetic mineralization process. The β-FeOOH-decorated hierarchical PVDF membrane surface with the organic-inorganic hybrids showed excellent hydrophilicity and ultralow underwater oil adhesion force. After in-situ anchoring of β-FeOOH nanorods, the polydopamine/polyethylenimine (PDA/PEI) modified hierarchical PVDF membrane showed improved permeation flux behaviors, higher oil removal, demulsification, and better anti-oil-fouling properties during 1440-min continuous separation of stabilized soybean oil-in-water (o/w) and crude o/w emulsions. In contrast, the unmodified hierarchically superhydrophilic PVDF membrane maintained efficient emulsion separation for a much shorter period (120 min). Most importantly, the surface-immobilized β-FeOOH exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for cleaning the oil foulants (soybean oil and crude oil) through the photo-Fenton reaction in the presence of peroxide, endowing the membrane with self-cleaning capability. As a result, the unwanted foulants were successfully removed from the membrane surface, restoring separation performance of the superhydrophilic PVDF membrane for reuse. Therefore, the self-cleaning membrane can treat more oily wastewater and produce more clean water before replacement. The mineralized superhydrophilic PVDF membrane with hierarchical composite micro-/nano structures exhibits satisfactory stability under simultaneous separation and photocatalysis cleaning, showing great potential for tricky oily wastewater treatment and oil resource recovery.

Flexible and robust polyimide membranes with adjustable surface structure and hierarchical pore distribution for oil/water emulsion and heavy oil separation

Highly porous membranes with super-wetting property have been widely researched for oil/water separation. However, most membranes can only be used for a single type of oil-water mixture or emulsion due to their fixed microstructure. Experimental fabrication of multifunctional membranes for efficient separation of various oily wastewater and heavy oil is still a challenge. Herein, flexible and super-hydrophobic polyimide membranes modified by MCNTs and fluorosilane (MCNTs/FPIMs) are innovatively fabricated with adjustable surface structure and hierarchical pore distribution by a versatile and simple phase inversion strategy. Surface corrosion is adapted to adjust the surface pore size by using triethylamine to dissolve the surface dense layer, which aims to construct rough surfaces and effectively increases the oil/water separation performance. The results demonstrate that the hierarchical pore distribution can achieve both high oil/water selectivity and high separation efficiency. The as-prepared FPIMs can realize the rapid gravity-driven separation of light oil (~ 69510 L h-1·m-2), oil/water emulsion (~ 895 L h-1·m-2), and heavy oil (~ 195 L h-1·m-2) by adjusting the surface structure and pore size distribution. The flexible and robust FPIMs with adjustable surface structure exhibit highly efficient oil/water separation performance and reusability, which makes them promising application in practical oil spills and wastewater purification.

Multi-Component Nanofiber Composite Membrane Enabled High PM0.3 Removal Efficiency and Oil/Water Separation Performance in Complex Environment

Currently, industrial waste gas and oily wastewater are usually at high temperature and contain corrosive components (e.g., acid, alkali, oxidant, or high salt, etc.), presenting great challenges on filtration/separation materials. Here, a multi-purpose Poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide)/polyacrylonitrile/silica (PMIA/PAN/SiO2) nanofiber composite membrane with a high yield was prepared simply via electrospinning to satisfy the demands of air filtration and oil/water separation in complex environments. Under the synergy of PMIA, PAN and SiO2, the composite membrane possesses high PM0.3 removal capacity of 99.69%, robust purification ability against real smoke PM2.5, effective oil/water separation performance of > 99.6%, superior high temperature stability (about 250 °C) and excellent chemical resistance, showing the potential application in filtration/separation process under complex conditions. Moreover, the influence mechanism of SiO2 NPs on mechanical properties and filtration performance was systematically investigated through experiments and simulations, paving the way for future intensive research. This study provides an option for the facile and effective preparation of high-performance filtration/separation membranes applied in the field of dust filtration and oily wastewater separation, even in harsh environments.

Biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA)

Abstract Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable material that can be processed using the common processing techniques, such as injection molding, extrusion, and blow molding. PLA has widely been researched and tested due to its biodegradable nature. As a biodegradable material, PLA can be subject to some inherently poor qualities, such as its brittleness, weak mechanical properties, small processing windows, or poor electrical and thermal properties. In order to nullify some of these issues, nanofiller composites have been added to the polymer matrix, such as nanocellulose, nanoclays, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. Dye-clay hybrid nanopigments (DCNP) have been used to explore potential applications in the food packaging industry with promising results. Several different compatibilizers have been studied as well, with the goal of increasing the mechanical properties of blends. A key application for PLA is in wound healing and surgical work, with a few studies described in the present chapter. Finally, the superwettability of dopamine modified PLA is examined, with promising results for separation of oily wastewater.

Reversal of wettability of carbon cloth by microwave-assisted modification technology for efficient oil-water separation application

A modified layer of ZnO coating with the thickness of about 0.57 μm has been uniformly deposited on carbon cloth by microwave-assisted modification technology for reversing the wettability of carbon cloth, resulting in the fabrication of ZnO/CC Mem. The inherent properties of carbon fibers absorbing microwave radiation and converting it into volumetric heating contribute to the uniform deposition of ZnO modified coating on carbon cloth. After modification, the WCA of as-prepared ZnO/CC Mem is 0° while the corresponding UWOCA is up to 158.4 ± 1.1°, exhibiting the excellent superhydrophilicity/underwater superoleophobicity. In the process of gravity driven oil-water separation, a high filtrate flux about 18,625 ± 100 L/(m 2 h), is found in the separation of oil-water mixture, and the corresponding separation efficiency is 99.9%; While for the treatment of simulated kitchen oily wastewater, a bilayer ZnO/CC Mem is used. The corresponding filtrate flux and separation efficiency are 15,880 ± 100 L/(m 2 h) and 99.8%, respectively. In addition, the fouled ZnO/CC Mem could restore the virgin performance by a simple cleaning process. • A modified layer of ZnO coating had been uniformly deposited on carbon cloth by microwave-assisted modification technology for efficient oil-water separation. • The underwater oil contact angle of ZnO/CC Mem was up to 158.4 ± 1.1°, exhibiting the excellent superhydrophily/underwater superoleophobicity. • A high filtrate flux and excellent separation efficiency were found in the separation of simulated kitchen oily wastewater by ZnO/CC Mem.

Fabrication of durable super-hydrophilic/underwater super-oleophobic poly(arylene ether nitrile) composite membrane via biomimetic co-deposition for multi-component oily wastewater separation in harsh environments

The polymer membranes with super-wetting surface have shown promising application for oily wastewater treatment. However, the synergistic separation of multi-component oily wastewater in harsh environments is still a big challenge. In this work, we demonstrated a facile strategy to construct the durable super-hydrophilic/underwater super-oleophobic PEN composite membrane for the synergistic treatment of oil-in-water emulsions and dye. First of all, based on the thermally stable carboxyl poly (aryl ether nitrile), the hydrophilic polymer membrane with rough trench surface was prepared by non-solvent phase conversion, using non-woven fabric (NWF) as template. Secondly, the TiO2 nanoparticles were firmly immobilized onto the membrane surface via biomimetic co-deposition of dopamine (DA), aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), and TiO2 nanoparticles. Especially, the physical confinement effect of rough trench surface, strong adhesion of polydopamine, and chemical crosslinking between APTES and DA contributed to the stable super-wetting performance of composite membrane (CA: 0° and UOC: 151°). Meanwhile, the obtained super-wetting composite membrane exhibited promising synergistic separation performance of multi-component oily wastewater (oil-in-water emulsions and dye). For the separation of oil-in-water emulsions containing 50 ppm methylene blue, the flux and rejection ratio reached 552.25 ± 25 L/(m2 h) and 99.38 ± 1.3%, respectively. More importantly, the prepared composite membrane could keep stable super-wetting property and separation efficiency under high-temperature and corrosive environments (80 °C/4 M HCl and 80 °C/1 M NaOH). In addition, the low oil adhesion and high tensile strength endowed the composite membrane with high antifouling resistance and excellent recyclability for the separation of multi-component oily wastewater. This work provides an alternative platform for constructing durable super-wetting composite membrane, which shows the potential application for treating complicated oily wastewater of petro-chemistry industry in harsh environments.

Electrospun PVDF-SiO2 nanofibrous membranes with enhanced surface roughness for oil-water coalescence separation

Oily wastewater pollution is considered as one of the most serious global environmental problems. Treating oily wastewater is particularly important and challenging because emulsified oil was difficult to be effectively and economically removed from wastewater. In this work, a novel rough poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)-SiO2 nanofibrous membrane based on the commercial nylon medium was developed via a facile one-step electrospinning approach by assembling SiO2 nanoparticles for effective coalescence separation of oily wastewater. The PVDF-SiO2 nanofibrous membrane showed high hydrophobicity with water contact angle 135o in air and poor oleophilicity with oil contact angle 87° under water. The membrane performed high coalescence separation efficiency of 98.6% for hexadecane-in-water emulsion. Besides, the nanofibrous membrane exhibited good separation performances with different flow velocities, initial oil concentrations and types of oil-water systems, which showed high potentials in oily wastewater treatment.

A new fouling resistance polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane embedded by metformin-modified FSM-16: Fabrication, characterization and performance evaluation in emulsified oil-water separation

Mixed matrix membrane (MMM) is a known and useful method for the incorporation of nanomaterials to fabricate efficient membranes for water purification. The compatibility of filler (i.e., nanomaterials) and the polymeric matrix is challenging in the design of composite membranes. This study elucidates the performance of polyethersulfone-based membrane (i.e., permeation flux, oil-water emulsion filtration, and membrane stability) with the incorporation of hydrophilic porous nanomaterials, e.g., FSM-16 and metformin-modified FSM-16 (noted as FSM-16-Met). The membranes with modified FSM-16 exhibited significant improvements in physical stability (thermal and mechanical) and surface hydrophilicity (78.98–41.37º for optimal membrane). A considerable enhancement in pure water flux (29.18–132.7 kg/m2 h for optimal membrane) and remarkable antifouling improvement (FRR: 43.94–96.74% for optimal membrane) were observed for the membranes incorporated with FSM-16-Met, compared to those with FSM-16, in the oily wastewater separation in different conditions (oil concentration: 100, 300, and 500 ppm; temperature: 30–90 °C; and pressure: 3–6 bar).

Wettable and Flexible Silica Nanofiber/Bead-Based Membranes for Separation of Oily Wastewater

Surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions (SSEs) are parts of oily wastewater that are incredibly difficult to separate, especially for SSEs under complex conditions. Constructing ceramic fiber ...

One-step in-situ fabrication of carbon nanotube/stainless steel mesh membrane with excellent anti-fouling properties for effective gravity-driven filtration of oil-in-water emulsions

The occurrence of membrane fouling has resulted in limited wastewater treatment applications. The development of superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic materials has received significant attention owing to their good anti-fouling properties. However, to fabricate such materials need costly regents and tedious steps. Thus, developing a one-step process to prepare a low-cost material for oil/water separation is still desired. In this study, bio-inspired from an arachnid, inorganic carbon nanotube stainless steel meshes (CNT@SSMs) having superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic and excellent anti-fouling properties and a unique fiber structure were fabricated via a one-step thermal chemical vapor deposition method. The CNT@SSMs had a small pore size enabling a high water flux of 10,639 L m−2h−1 and the separation of oily wastewater, including various emulsions, at a high rejection ratio of >98.89%. As a result of its excellent chemical stability under high temperatures, a broad pH range, and saline environments, the CNT@SSM has the potential to be used in extreme conditions. In summary, these CNT@SSMs are easy to fabricate and are low-cost as a result of inexpensive reagents involved. Moreover, these novel superwetting membranes are promising candidates for treatment of hazardous oily wastewater.

Development of high strength, porous mullite ceramic hollow fiber membrane for treatment of oily wastewater

Ceramic hollow fiber membranes (CHFMs) are known for their excellent characteristics including high surface area, compact design, and good chemical, thermal, and mechanical stabilities. Despite these interesting attributes, CHFMs are also prone to certain limitations, such as brittleness and high cost that hinder them from being commercialized. To mitigate this drawback, we have developed a high strength, porous ceramic hollow fiber membrane, derived from mullite–kaolinite powder, for efficient oil–wastewater separation. The superhydrophilic, low-cost mullite-based (CHFM) was successfully fabricated through combined phase inversion and sintering techniques. Prior to the fabrication, the as-received mullite–kaolinite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. Subsequently, operational parameters such as the effect of mullite content, sintering temperature, and air gap were optimized during the fabrication of mullite ceramic hollow fiber membrane. The resulting membranes were systematically characterized and evaluated in terms of morphology, porosity, mechanical strength, water flux, and oil–water separation. Increasing the mullite content, air gap, and sintering temperature enhanced the formation of microvoid structure. It is interesting to note that the mechanical strength of 86 MPa was obtained for the membrane containing 60 wt % of mullite sintered at 1450 °C and an air gap of 5 cm. The membrane induced a stable permeate water flux and oil rejection of mullite CHFM of 182 L/m2∙h and 97.1%, respectively. As compared to kaolin ceramic counterparts, this porous mullite ceramic hollow fiber membrane can be used in various water treatment applications, including for the separation of oily wastewater due to its mechanical strength and water flux.

One-step facile fabrication of mechanical strong porous boron nitride nanosheets–polymer electrospun nanofibrous membranes for repeatable emulsified oil/water separation

The separation of oily wastewater with its growing commercial demand is a big challenge due to a lot of oily wastewater produced in the petroleum industry and draining pollutes the environment. Porous boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) is a highly efficient adsorbent material for organic pollutants especially for oily pollutants due to its high surface area. However, the nanosheets assembled membranes have a relatively low mechanical properties and it is hard to be collected after removing organic pollutants. In this work, a novel porous boron nitride nanosheets/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membrane was fabricated through a simple one-step electrospinning strategy for mechanical strong and repeatable emulsified oil/water separation. Compared to pristine PAN membrane, membrane with porous BNNS addition of 4 wt% shows a slight lower permeability of 12885 ± 131 L μm m−2 h−1 bar−1, but with much higher separation efficiency of 99% for pump oil/water emulsions. In addition, the membranes demonstrated excellent mechanical performance as increasing porous BNNS loading, with improved mechanical strength by about 49.6% from 13.3 MPa to 19.9 MPa, enhanced Young’s modulus by about 456.2% from 25.1 to 139.6 MPa, respectively. Therefore, the membrane can be easily recycled and used for more than 25 cycles without significant change.

Hydrophilic Surface-Modified PAN Nanofibrous Membranes for Efficient Oil-Water Emulsion Separation.

In order to protect the environment, it is important that oily industrial wastewater is degreased before discharging. Membrane filtration is generally preferred for separation of oily wastewater as it does not require any specialised chemical knowledge, and also for its ease of processing, energy efficiency and low maintenance costs. In the present work, hybrid polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membranes were developed for oily wastewater filtration. Membrane surface modification changed nitrile groups on the surface into carboxylic groups, which improve membrane wettability. Subsequently, TiO2 nanoparticles were grafted onto the modified membranes to increase flux and permeability. Following alkaline treatment (NaOH, KOH) of the hydrolysed PAN nanofibres, membrane water permeability increased two- to eight-fold, while TiO2 grafted membrane permeability increase two- to thirteen-fold, compared to unmodified membranes. TiO2 grafted membranes also displayed amphiphilic properties and a decrease in water contact angle from 78.86° to 0°. Our results indicate that modified PAN nanofibrous membranes represent a promising alternative for oily wastewater filtration.

Facile synthesis and characterization of Zno-HNT additive for enhancement of polysulfone membrane for Oil-In-Water separation

In this study, a novel nanocomposite of Zinc Oxide-Halloysite Nanotubes (ZnO-HNT) has been synthesized and incorporated into polysulfone membrane for the purpose of oily wastewater separation and purification. ZnO-HNT nanocomposite was synthesized as additives that can improve the hydrophilicity as well as the oleophobicity of the membrane. The nanocomposite was incorporated into PSf membrane in three different loading of ZnO and HNT. The novel nanocomposite has been characterized for its morphological characteristics using SEM, TEM and its physicochemical properties were also analyzed by FTIR and XRD. The performance of the modified polysulfone membrane was studied in terms of hydrophilicity, oil rejection and antifouling properties. The FTIR spectra recorded significant –OH peak at 3200 to 3500 cm−1 which contributes to the improve hydrophilicity of the membrane. XRD analysis shown that there are significant peaks at 2θ that attributes to both ZnO and HNT in which the nanocomposite exhibited more intense peak at 56.7° denoting increased amount of hydroxide groups. Additionally, the modified PSf membrane with ZnO-HNT additives has shown improved oil contact angle of 165°, water contact angle of 48.6° and 99% total rejection for oily wastewater indicating the improve performance of PSf through incorporation of ZnO-HNT.