N dimethylacetamide

Polysulfone (PSf), with an average molecular weight of 35,000 mol, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), with an average molecular weight of 55,000 mol, and N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAc), were all purchased from Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA. PSf was chosen due to its chemical stability and mechanical properties, as well as its ability to withstand higher temperatures compared to other polymers [9 (link)]. GO_H (a specific form of graphene oxide (GO)) was prepared by the Hummers’ method [22 (link)] and was purchased from Sixth Element Materials Technology, Changzhou, China. GO_S was prepared following the Staudenmaier method [24 (link)], and GO_T was prepared by following the Tour method [25 (link)] using 45 μm natural graphite flakes kindly supplied by Asbury Carbons, Asbury, NJ, USA. Diesel was obtained from a local petrol station (Woqod) in Doha, Qatar, and was used to prepare the oily-water emulsion of 100 ppm to test the selectivity of membranes.

Progesterone, compressed PBS tablet, gold nanoparticles (15 nm diameter, Optical Density 1, stabilized suspension in 0.1 mM PBS), acetone and N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), Evans blue, and Nile red were supplied by Sigma-Aldrich Co. (Poole, UK) at the highest available purity and used as received. PLGA 50:50 (Mw 17,000 g mol⁻¹) and 75:25 (Mw 17,000 g mol⁻¹) were purchased from Corbion (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and used as received.