Preparation of high-performance graphene nanoplate incorporated polyether block amide membrane and application for seawater desalination

Abstract

In this study, a novel graphene nanoplates (GNPs) incorporated polyether block amide (PEBA) membrane was successfully prepared to be used for seawater desalination. Pervaporative desalination performances were performed in a temperature range of 35–65°C. Effects of GNPs content in PEBA, membrane thickness, and temperature were evaluated in terms of the flux and total salt rejection. The long-term stabilities of the membranes were experimented. Incorporating graphene nanoplate into PEBA matrix enhanced flux and ion rejections simultaneously. Experimental stability of the membrane was improved by GNPs incorporation. Graphene incorporated membranes showed excellent seawater desalination performance with the salt rejection of >99.89% and flux of >2.58kg/m2·h. Based on the flux and rejection results, optimum GNPs contents in PEBA matrix were observed as 2wt% GNPs and 3wt% GNPs. Increasing temperatures improved the water flux and did not significantly affect the salt rejection. The highest salt rejection was obtained as 99.94% with a flux of 2.58kg/m2·h at 35°C when the 3wt% GNPs incorporated membrane was used. The nanohybrid membrane preserved 99.8% of its performance during 60h, while the rejection performance of the pristine membrane decreased to 96.8%.