Crosslinked graphene oxide membranes: Enhancing membrane material conservation and optimisation

Vepika Kandjou, Miguel Hernaez, Maria D. Casal, Sonia Melendi-Espina

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
8 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Graphene Oxide (GO) has recently shown great promise in water purification as a potential substitute to conventional membrane materials. However, GO membranes face some challenges associated to their swelling due to the accumulation of water molecules in their oxidized regions. The use of crosslinkers has been proven as an effective way to improve GO membranes stability and performance. Nevertheless, optimisations to efficiently use materials and resources are a necessity. These include the determination of the influence of GO and crosslinker amounts on membrane structure, operation, and efficiency.

Methods: Consequently, in this study crosslinked membranes with different GO and p-phenylenediamine (crosslinker) concentrations were fabricated to establish relationships between the quantity of the selected materials and membranes performance. FESEM was undertaken to investigate the structural quality together with thickness measurements. The performance of the membranes was evaluated via a pressure assisted nanofiltration cell using aqueous methylene blue (MB) as feed solution.

Significant findings: A notable enhancement in MB separation from around 75 to 98% was observed at an increasing GO and crosslinker concentrations. The permeation flux decreased correspondingly owing to tortuosity lengthening at higher GO concentrations. Based on performance rates and XPS characterizations the optimum crosslinker and GO concentrations were deduced.
Original languageEnglish
Article number104434
JournalJournal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Volume136
Early online date20 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Keywords

  • Concentration
  • Crosslinking
  • Graphene oxide
  • Layer-by-layer
  • Nanofiltration
  • Optimisation

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