Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
The growing presence of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in water systems poses a serious threat to conventional treatment processes, particularly membrane filtration. This study focuses on a surface modification strategy for commercial ultrafiltration (UF) membranes via plasma-induced grafting of mono-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl succinate (MMES) to enhance resistance against MP/NPs fouling. The membranes were characterised using advanced analytical techniques, including high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), confirming successful grafting, increased hydrophilicity, and a more negative surface charge. At optimal conditions of grafting (2 min pretreatment, 0.5 M monomer concentration, and 3 h grafting time), the modified membrane achieved a relative water flux (RWF) of 0.90 and flux recovery rate (FRR) of 91.35 %, representing improvements of 119 % and 52 % respectively, compared to the control membrane, which showed an RWF of 0.41 and an FRR of 60 %. Although the pure water flux (PWF) of the optimised membrane (133 LMH) was slightly lower than that of the control (137 LMH), the significant enhancement in antifouling performance underscores its practical advantage. Long-term stability tests confirmed that at optimised conditions the modified membrane maintained its enhanced performance over time, due to stable covalent bonding between MMES and the membrane matrix. The findings highlight the effectiveness of MMES grafting in to mitigate fouling and to improve membrane performance, demonstrating its practical applicability for advanced water treatment.
Keywords
Fouling, Grafting, Microplastics, Surface modification, Ultrafiltration membranes
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Article Number
109236
Volume
81
Publication Title
Journal of Water Process Engineering
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Engineering / Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences
Funding Information
The authors express their gratitude for the financial support provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC DECRA DE220101043) and the generous support from the AMP Foundation for Dr. Masoumeh Zargar and the ARC PhD Scholarship for Mohadeseh Najafi to conduct this research.
Funding received from the Australian Research Council (ARC)
DE220101043
Administering Institution
Edith Cowan University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Content Type
Full object
Recommended Citation
Najafi, M., Farahbakhsh, J., Golgoli, M., Johns, M., & Zargar, M. (2025). Harnessing mono-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl succinate grafting for robust micro/nanoplastic-resistant ultrafiltration membranes. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 81, Article 109236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.109236
Comments
This is an Authors Accepted Manuscript version of an article published by Elsevier in Journal of Water Process Engineering. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.109236
Najafi, M., Farahbakhsh, J., Golgoli, M., Johns, M., & Zargar, M. (2025). Harnessing mono-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl succinate grafting for robust micro/nanoplastic-resistant ultrafiltration membranes. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 81, 109236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.109236