Membrane surface wettability and roughness under operating conditions and their implications for membrane performance

Rawda Serag; M. Bassyouni; Fathy Shokry; Monica Toderaș; Riham Hazzaa

doi:10.1016/j.dwt.2026.101951

Membrane surface wettability and roughness under operating conditions and their implications for membrane performance

Rawda Serag (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, 42526, Egypt; Center of Excellence for Membrane Testing and Characterization (CEMTC), Port Said University, 42526, Egypt) M. Bassyouni (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University of Madinah, Madinah, 42351, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author.) Fathy Shokry (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, 42526, Egypt) Monica Toderaș (Department of Physics, Faculty of Informatics and Sciences, University of Oradea, University Str, Oradea, 410087, Romania) Riham Hazzaa (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, 42526, Egypt)

Journal: Desalination and Water Treatment • 2026-10-01 • Elsevier • ISSN: 1944-3986

Abstract

Membrane wettability is an important factor influencing separation efficiency, fouling resistance, water flux, and durability. Although membrane wetting has been extensively studied, few reviews have quantitatively examined the relationships among wettability behavior under operating conditions, membrane configurations, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction frameworks. This review aims to fill this gap by providing a comparative analysis of membrane wettability based on water contact angle. A critical review of theoretical foundations, including the Young, Wenzel, and Cassie–Baxter models, and characterization techniques is presented. The influences of membrane chemistry, roughness, fillers, additives, and operating conditions on wetting behavior are critically discussed. According to reported data, increasing the temperature from 0 to 90 °C reduces the contact angle of the LP21 reverse-osmosis membrane from 73.1° to 58.8°, while increasing the sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration to 16,000 parts per million (ppm) reduces it from 69.1° to 54.0°. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) remains strongly hydrophobic (≈145°), whereas polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF; ≈85°), polyethersulfone (PES; ≈68.7°), the XLE reverse-osmosis membrane (≈63°), and the NF90 nanofiltration membrane (≈41.4°) exhibit different wettability characteristics. These trends are discussed for oily wastewater, refinery wastewater, graywater, and saline water. A comparative analysis of 14 artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) studies revealed that hybrid artificial neural network–genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) and artificial neural network–response surface methodology (ANN-RSM) frameworks achieved coefficient-of-determination values (R²) above 0.99 for predicting wettability, flux, and fouling. Quantitative wettability-stability indicators can be integrated into AI-based models to predict long-term membrane performance.

Subjects & Keywords

# Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering # Ecology # Membrane wettability # Contact angle measurement # Surface roughness # Operating conditions # Artificial intelligence in membrane design

How to Cite this Article

                    Rawda Serag, M. Bassyouni, Fathy Shokry, et al. (2026). "Membrane surface wettability and roughness under operating conditions and their implications for membrane performance". Desalination and Water Treatment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dwt.2026.101951                

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DOI: 10.1016/j.dwt.2026.101951 ↗
Primary Index: DOAJ