Oily wastewater has become a significant problem due to the substantial growth in the oil, grease, petrol, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Traditional method like skimming, centrifugation, coagulation, and flocculation μm this study, polysulfone (Psf)-based mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) were fabricated by incorporating ZIF-8 and HNT-COOH (cHNT) nanoparticles to enhance their physiochemical properties, including hydrophilicity, mechanical strength, permeability, and oil/water rejection. The prepared membranes were characterized using SEM, ATR-FTIR, AFM, contact angle measurements, and mechanical testing. The results demonstrated that increasing the concentration of cHNT nanoparticles significantly improved membrane hydrophilicity, reducing the contact angle to approximately 48°. Mechanical strength also saw a substantial boost, with the modified membrane (PZH-75) reaching 120 MPa, compared to 45 MPa for the pristine membrane. The PZH-75 membranes exhibited outstanding permeability, achieving a pure water permeability (PWP) of 476 L.m-2.h-1.bar-1, an 11-fold increase over the pristine membrane (42 L.m-2.h-1.bar-1). Notably, the PZH-25 membrane (223.4 L.m-2.h-1.bar-1) outperformed the PH membrane (176.2 L.m-2.h-1.bar-1), despite both containing 0.25 wt% cHNT. Additionally, the PZH-75 membrane showed remarkable antifouling properties, with a 76% flux recovery ratio for 1000 ppm oil concentration and high oil rejection, yielding a permeate oil concentration of 6.4 ppm (99.3% rejection). These findings highlight the potential of incorporating ZIF-8 and cHNT nanoparticles to enhance HFMs for efficient oil/water separation.
