Effect of graphene oxide on modifying polyethersulfone membrane performance and its application in wastewater treatment

Azam Marjani,Ali Taghvaie Nakhjiri,Maryam Adimi,Hassan Fathinejad Jirandehi,Saeed Shirazian

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-58472-y

Abstract

In the present paper, Graphene Oxide (GO) particles were prepared via Hummer method, and used in synthesis of composite membranes. Polyethersulfone (PES) nanocomposite membranes were synthesized via wet phase inversion technique, and using water as non-solvent. The membrane morphology was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Change in the membrane surface hydrophilicity after modification was studied using contact angle measurements. The performance of fabricated PES nanocomposite membranes was measured by evaluating pure water flux, salt rejection, dye retention and heavy metals removal. The results indicated that by increasing the filler percentage up to 5 wt.%, the contact angle between the water droplet and the membrane surface was decreased and the droplet was more dispersed on the membrane surface which implies higher hydrophilicity of the prepared nanocomposite membranes. Moreover, the experimental results corroborated that addition of GO to the membrane significantly improved the pure water flux, salt rejection and heavy metals removal, and can be used as a novel methodology for preparation of high performance membranes in water treatment.

Highlights

In the present paper, Graphene Oxide (GO) particles were prepared via Hummer method, and used in synthesis of composite membranes
The results proved that increment in the amount of GO in the membrane structure significantly enhanced the amount of flux passing through the membrane, the mechanical strength and the separation properties[1]
The peak around 1589 cm−1 is related to the epoxide bond and the bending vibration of water molecules in the GO matrix, whereas the IR spectra of graphite indicate no specific properties, confirming that the graphite is successfully oxidized to GO by the applied synthesis method

Summary

Introduction

Graphene Oxide (GO) particles were prepared via Hummer method, and used in synthesis of composite membranes. The performance of fabricated PES nanocomposite membranes was measured by evaluating pure water flux, salt rejection, dye retention and heavy metals removal. In the majority of chemical industries, the requirement of separation procedures seems to be unavoidable to efficiently manage the deleterious impressions of greenhouse gases on environment[7,8,9] In this regard, membranes have been developed for the efficient separation and purification of various types of materials in solid, liquid and gas states. Zhang et al studied the GO effect on the phase inversion process of the coagulation bath on morphology, surface properties, mechanical strength, and separation properties of prepared membranes. They reported that the GO composite polymeric membranes are great candidate for wastewater filtration[26]

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