Abstract
In the present work, we developed a novel method for transferring monolayer graphene onto four different commercial hydrophilic micro/ultra-filtration substrates. The developed method used electrostatic charging to maintain the contact between the graphene and the target substrate intact during the etching step through the wet transfer process. Several measurement/analysis techniques were used in order to evaluate the properties of the surfaces and to assess the quality of the transferred graphene. The techniques included water contact angle (CA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Potassium chloride (KCl) ions were used for the transport study through the developed graphene-based membranes. The results revealed that 70% rejection of KCI ions was recorded for the graphene/polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF1) membrane, followed by 67% rejection for the graphene/polyethersulfone (PES) membrane, and 65% rejection for graphene/PVDF3 membrane. It was revealed that the smoothest substrate was the most effective in rejecting the ions. Although defects such as tears and cracks within the graphene layer were still evolving in this new transfer method, however, the use of Nylon 6,6 interfacial polymerization allowed sealing the tears and cracks within the graphene monolayer. This enhanced the KCl ions rejection of up to 85% through the defect-sealed graphene/polymer composite membranes.
Highlights
The unique structure of graphene and its distinct physical and chemical properties offer a great prospect for numerous industrial applications such as touch screens, solar cells, smartphones, nanomaterials, sensors, and batteries [1,2,3]
The surface characteristics of the considered substrate affect the quality of transferred graphene, whichThe in turn impacts the performance of the developed membrane
Smoothofsurface with agraphene, minimal surface characteristics of the considered substrate affect theAquality transferred average root mean square is preferred for the graphene/polymer membrane over a rough which in turn impacts the performance of the developed membrane
Summary
The unique structure of graphene and its distinct physical and chemical properties offer a great prospect for numerous industrial applications such as touch screens, solar cells, smartphones, nanomaterials, sensors, and batteries [1,2,3]. One of the main challenges with graphene, is to produce a high-quality monolayer, and to yield a defect free transferred graphene. The CVD process produces graphene/Cu sheets that can be directly used in applications or have graphene transferred to other substrates [25,26]. It is likely that graphene tends to tear and crack To reduce this issue, a good adhesion must exist between the graphene layer and the target substrate. We introduced a new efficient protocol to transfer graphene monolayer onto polymeric hydrophilic substrates, this being a vital step towards developing a high-performance membrane for water purification applications. The quality of transferred graphene was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the performance of graphene/polymeric substrate composites was evaluated using KCl ionic transport study
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