We utilized pressure-, vacuum-, and evaporation assisted self assembly techniques through which graphene oxide (GO) was deposited on modified polyacrylonitrile (mPAN). The fabricated composite GO/mPAN membranes were applied to dehydrate 1-butanol mixtures by pervaporation. Varying driving forces in the self assembly techniques induced different GO assembly layer microstructures. XRD results indicated that the GO layer d-spacing varied from 8.3 angstrom to 11.5 angstrom. The self assembly technique with evaporation resulted in a heterogeneous GO layer with loop structures; this layer was shown to be hydrophobic, in contrast to the hydrophilic layer formed from the other two techniques. From the pressure assisted technique, the composite membrane exhibited exceptional pervaporation performance at 30 degrees C: concentration of water at the permeate side=99.6 wt% and permeation flux=2.54 kg m(-2) h(-1) Moreover, the membrane sustained its operating stability at a high temperature of 70 degrees C: a high water concentration of 99.5 wt% was maintained, and a permeation flux as high as 4.34 kg m(-2) h(-1) was attained. This excellent separation performance stemmed from the dense, highly ordered laminate structure of GO. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.