This review provides insight into the application of membrane technology in the filtration of aqueous solution generated from different industries. Due to the ever-evolving and demanding strict attention to rules and regulation for discharging of oily waste water, researchers have investigated membrane technology as a best and suitable method for separation of oil in oil-water emulsion. Membrane-based separation processes are becoming a novel material to treat oily wastewater due its facile operation process and effective in removal of oil from oil/water emulsion. This review summarizes or highlights the recent development of advanced membrane technology employed to separate oil in water emulsion using polymer and ceramic-based membranes and modified membranes via blending, coating, grafting and other techniques. Moreover, integrated membranes system to achieve high separation efficiency over single membrane process is also discussed. Perspective and conclusions concerning the future development of filtration membranes for treatment of oil in water mixture are also provided. A review of membrane technology for oil/water emulsion treatment could have a substantial contribution in developing novel membranes and modification of the existed membranes.

In recent years, block copolymer micellar assemblies with the formation of structured nanoparticles have been considered as an emerging technology in membrane science. In this work, the poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) copolymer was directly synthesized using Reversible Addition-Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerization and self-assembled in a selective medium (2,2,2-trifluroethanol/water). Then, poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) copolymers were casted onto a commercial PVDF membrane to form a thin porous selective layer. The prepared nanoparticles and the resulting membranes were fully characterized using microscopy methods (SEM and AFM), whereas the membrane performance was evaluated in terms of permeability and the molecular weight cut off. The results from this study demonstrate the preparation of an ultrafiltration membrane made from the assembly of poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) copolymer micelles on the top of a PVDF membrane in the form of thin film. The copolymer chain orientation leads to a membrane surface enriched in hydrophilic PSBMA, which confers a suitable behavior for aqueous solution filtration on the membrane, while preserving the high chemical and mechanical resistance of the PVDF.

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