Optimizing Nanoclay-Enhanced Membranes for Oil Rejection Using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

The efficient separation of waste oil from contaminated water is critical due to its challenges in environmental and industrial applications. This study investigated the production and optimization of polysulphone (PSF) membranes using two different types of clay (nanomer clay/CN and commercial nanoclay/NC). Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the basic production parameters and nanoclay concentrations systematically to maximize oil rejection and permeability flow. The experimental results showed that NC and CN significantly increased the hydrophilicity, permeability, and fouling resistance of the membrane compared to pure PSF membranes. The contact angle significantly decreased from 64.34 (pristine PSF) to 36.23 (2% NC), indicating highly improved hydrophilicity. Consequently, the pure water flux increased from 177.2 L/m2 h to a maximum of 248.6 L/m2 h (1% NC). Furthermore, the modified membranes exhibited outstanding anti-fouling properties; the flux recovery ratio (FRR) improved from 88.09% to 96.20% (1% CN), while the decline ratio (DR) drastically dropped from 60.89% to 32.14%. The optimized condition for maximum removal efficiency using a modified quadratic model revealed that 2572 mg/L oil can be treated with a PSF membrane containing 2.0% CN to remove 98.271% of the oil. The model also suggests superiority of CN over NC with desirability factors of 0.978 and 0.900, respectively, while both demonstrated high efficiency. This theoretically modeled experimental comparative study highlights the importance of PSF membrane technology for efficient and sustainable oil–water separation and demonstrates the promising potential of nanoclay modifications.