high-performance wo₃/go/hap–pes mixed matrix membrane for efficient methylene blue removal from water

The development of effective and eco-friendly water treatment technologies is crucial to addressing the global water scarcity problem. this study focuses on creating and evaluating a new mixed matrix membrane (mmm) made of wo3/go/hap for removing methylene blue (mb) from water. the base membrane used is a polyethersulfone (pes) membrane, and the mmm was made using a phase inversion technique. the addition of tungsten trioxide (wo3), graphene oxide (go), and hydroxyapatite (hap) to the pes matrix aimed to enhance the membrane's overall performance for mb removal. extensive analysis of the prepared mmms showed improved hydrophilicity, and porosity compared to the pristine pes membrane. the optimized pes–wo₃/go/hap membrane exhibited outstanding filtration efficiency, achieving a water flux of 5.33 kg/m²h and an mb rejection of 89.53%, demonstrating superior efficiency over the pure pes membrane (2.23 kg/m²h flux and 77.93% rejection). these improvements are attributed to the synergistic effects of wo₃, go, and hap, which induced a more porous structure and improved dye adsorption through electrostatic interaction. the developed membrane exhibits high-performance characteristics and holds promise for sustainable dye wastewater treatment. however, further research to assess its mechanical properties, long-term stability, and reusability is still needed.