Improving the antifouling property of polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane by incorporation of isocyanate-treated graphene oxide.

In this paper, isocyanate-treated graphene oxide (iGO), which can be well dispersed in organic solvent, was prepared in a simple manner and showed excellent compatibility with polysulfone (PSF). iGO-PSF ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by the classical phase inversion method. The separation performance and the antifouling property of the prepared membranes were investigated in detail. The antifouling property of the prepared membranes was found to be greatly enhanced by the addition of iGO, and we attributed the enhanced antifouling property to the improved hydrophilicity, the more negative zeta potential and the improved smoothness of the membrane surface.