Fabrication, Characterization, and Testing of Graphene Oxide and Hydrophilic Polymer Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes in a Dead-End Flow System
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 11
Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO) has emerged as a promising material for next-generation water treatment membranes. In this study, three types of GO membranes were produced and tested. Both GO and graphene oxide plus polyvinyl alcohol (GO/PVA) membranes were produced using the vacuum-assisted self-assembly (VASA) method, and a chitosan and graphene oxide composite membrane (CSGO) was assembled using GO as a nanoscale filler via evaporation under reduced pressure. Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) confirmed that GO and GO/PVA membranes were particularly well ordered, whereas CSGO exhibited reduced ordering attributed to structural and composition differences of GO and CS. The fabricated membranes were tested in a dead-end flow system indicating that each membrane containing GO produced a higher flux at 413 kPa pressure relative to conventional polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes used for benchmark comparison, but was lower in flux to a nanofiltration (NF) membrane. Challenging the membranes with methylene blue solution resulted in removal of the dye by all three of the membranes.
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Acknowledgments
This project was funded by the Army Environmental Quality/Installations program, which is funded by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) and administered by Dr. Elizabeth Ferguson (US Army Engineer Research & Development Center).
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 11 • November 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2016
Accepted: Apr 20, 2017
Published online: Sep 5, 2017
Published in print: Nov 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Feb 5, 2018
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