Graphene oxide membranes with high permeability and selectivity for dehumidification of air

Abstract

Hierarchically stacked 2D graphene oxide (GO) membranes are a fascinating and promising new class of materials with the potential for radically improved water vapor/gas separation with excellent selectivity and high permeability. This paper details dehumidification results from flowing gas mixtures through free-standing GO membrane samples prepared by a casting method. The first demonstrated use of free-standing GO membranes for water vapor separation reveals outstanding water vapor permeability and H2O/N2 selectivity. Free-standing GO membranes exhibit extremely high water vapor permeability of 1.82 × 105 Barrer and a water vapor permeance of 1.01 × 10−5 mol/m2sPa, while the nitrogen permeability was below the system’s detection limit, yielding a selectivity >104 in 80% relative humidity (RH) air at 30.8 °C. The results show great potential for a range of energy conversion and environmental applications.