To achieve both high permeate flux and high oil rejection in the oil/water emulsion microfiltration, a novel membrane material was synthesized through graphene oxide modification on the commercial 19 channels Al2O3 ceramic microfiltration membrane. TEM and XPS measurements show that graphene oxide has been coated on the pore surface of membrane homogeneously, and the covalent bond has been formed between graphene oxide and Al2O3 surface. During the treatment of oil/water emulsion, the water permeation fluxes of unmodified and modified membranes are about 522 and 667 I h(-1) m(-2) bar(-1) after 150 min, respectively. The flux of the modified membrane is higher about 27.8% than that of the unmodified membrane. The experimental results of oil/water emulsion microfiltration also demonstrate that the modified membrane exhibits higher oil rejection than the unmodified membrane. All these indicate that graphene oxide modification plays the crucial role and endows the membrane with excellent oil/water separation performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.