Improved water permeability and structural stability in a polysulfone-grafted graphene oxide composite membrane used for dye separation

Abstract Polysulfone (PSf)-grafted graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets (GO-g-PSf) were synthesized via a nucleophilic substitution reaction between hydroxyl groups of GO and chloromethyl groups of chloromethylated polysulfone (CMPSf). GO-g-PSf dispersion in N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) was employed to fabricate GO-g-PSf composite membranes for dye separation by a vacuum filtration self-assembly method using polyamide (PA) composite membranes as the supports. The chemical structure and morphology of GO-g-PSf nanosheets were characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman, XPS and TEM analyses. The morphology and filtration performance of membranes with various GO and GO-g-PSf depositions were investigated. The GO-g-PSf composite membrane with a deposition rate of 31.8 μg cm−2 exhibited a much higher pure water flux (88.0 L m−2 h−1 (LMH)) than pure GO composite membrane (12.8 LMH) at 2 bar owing to the enlarged interlayer spacing between the GO-g-PSf nanosheets. Simultaneously, the rejection rate of the GO-g-PSf composite membrane reached 90.3% for acid black 1 (AB), 99.5% for Congo red (CR) and 99.8% for methyl blue (MB) dyes under a cross-flow process at 2 bar. Moreover, the water permeance of the GO-g-PSf composite membrane remained at 25.9 LMH bar−1 after 60 h of operation for CR separation. Notably, the GO-g-PSf composite membrane also exhibited improved structural stability after 2 h of ultrasonic irradiation due to the physical entanglement of PSf chains. This study provides a simple approach to enhancing the permeability and structural stability of GO-based membranes used for dye separation.

[1]  Zheng Luo,et al.  Superhydrophobic hybrid membranes by grafting arc-like macromolecular bridges on graphene sheets: Synthesis, characterization and properties , 2018 .

[2]  Xinliang Feng,et al.  Synthetic Two‐Dimensional Materials: A New Paradigm of Membranes for Ultimate Separation , 2016, Advanced materials.

[3]  Wanqin Jin,et al.  Two-Dimensional-Material Membranes: A New Family of High-Performance Separation Membranes. , 2016, Angewandte Chemie.

[4]  W. Jin,et al.  Highly efficient recovery of propane by mixed-matrix membrane via embedding functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets into polydimethylsiloxane , 2017 .

[5]  Guojun Zhang,et al.  Self-assembly of graphene oxide and polyelectrolyte complex nanohybrid membranes for nanofiltration and pervaporation , 2012 .

[6]  Guojuan Liu,et al.  Self‐Assembly of Thiourea‐Crosslinked Graphene Oxide Framework Membranes toward Separation of Small Molecules , 2018, Advanced materials.

[7]  Jing Zhao,et al.  Fabricating graphene oxide-based ultrathin hybrid membrane for pervaporation dehydration via layer-by-layer self-assembly driven by multiple interactions , 2015 .

[8]  Chenlu Bao,et al.  Graphene oxide membranes for ion separation: Detailed studies on the effects of fabricating conditions , 2018, Applied Surface Science.

[9]  I. Grigorieva,et al.  Unimpeded Permeation of Water Through Helium-Leak–Tight Graphene-Based Membranes , 2011, Science.

[10]  Yulong Ying,et al.  Graphene oxide nanosheet: an emerging star material for novel separation membranes , 2014 .

[11]  Zhiwei Xu,et al.  Sandwich morphology and superior dye-removal performances for nanofiltration membranes self-assemblied via graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes , 2018 .

[12]  Pan Zhang,et al.  Membranes with selective laminar nanochannels of modified reduced graphene oxide for water purification , 2016 .

[13]  Chao Gao,et al.  High-flux graphene oxide nanofiltration membrane intercalated by carbon nanotubes. , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[14]  M. Tsapatsis,et al.  Zeolite membranes - a review and comparison with MOFs. , 2015, Chemical Society reviews.

[15]  Y. Cho,et al.  Water and ion sorption, diffusion, and transport in graphene oxide membranes revisited , 2017 .

[16]  Bin Shen,et al.  Chemical functionalization of graphene oxide toward the tailoring of the interface in polymer composites , 2013 .

[17]  Yu Zhao,et al.  Ultrathin graphene oxide nanosheet membranes with various d-spacing assembled using the pressure-assisted filtration method for removing natural organic matter , 2015 .

[18]  Y. Shin,et al.  Molecular Dynamics Simulations Reveal that Water Diffusion between Graphene Oxide Layers is Slow , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[19]  E. Johnston-Halperin,et al.  Progress, challenges, and opportunities in two-dimensional materials beyond graphene. , 2013, ACS nano.

[20]  Naixin Wang,et al.  Tuning inter-layer spacing of graphene oxide laminates with solvent green to enhance its nanofiltration performance , 2017 .

[21]  N. Kim,et al.  Effects of grafting methods for functionalization of graphene oxide by dodecylamine on the physical properties of its polyurethane nanocomposites , 2017 .

[22]  Y. Cheng,et al.  Preparation and Characterization of Polysulfone-graft-4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5-ether for Lithium Isotope Separation , 2015 .

[23]  Gongpin Liu,et al.  Facile tailoring of the two-dimensional graphene oxide channels for gas separation , 2016 .

[24]  K. Pan,et al.  Polydopamine‐Grafted Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes with Adjustable Nanochannels and Separation Performance , 2018 .

[25]  Thanh Tuan Nguyen,et al.  Fabrication of functionalized graphene oxide/maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene composite film with excellent gas barrier and anticorrosion properties , 2018 .

[26]  E. Samulski,et al.  Synthesis of water soluble graphene. , 2008, Nano letters.

[27]  M. Kim,et al.  Facilitated Water Transport through Graphene Oxide Membranes Functionalized with Aquaporin‐Mimicking Peptides , 2018, Advanced materials.

[28]  Jiaxing Huang,et al.  Two dimensional soft material: new faces of graphene oxide. , 2012, Accounts of chemical research.

[29]  Chao Gao,et al.  Ultrathin Graphene Nanofiltration Membrane for Water Purification , 2013 .

[30]  Dan Hua,et al.  Polyelectrolyte functionalized lamellar graphene oxide membranes on polypropylene support for organic solvent nanofiltration , 2017 .

[31]  Kang Li,et al.  Water transport through graphene oxide membranes: the roles of driving forces. , 2018, Chemical communications.

[32]  Wanqin Jin,et al.  Graphene-based membranes. , 2015, Chemical Society reviews.

[33]  B. Bruggen,et al.  Surface zwitterionic functionalized graphene oxide for a novel loose nanofiltration membrane , 2016 .

[34]  Cong-jie Gao,et al.  Multilayered graphene oxide membranes for water treatment: A review , 2018, Carbon.

[35]  Dan Li,et al.  Controllable corrugation of chemically converted graphene sheets in water and potential application for nanofiltration. , 2011, Chemical communications.

[36]  S. Lue,et al.  Graphene oxide-cation interaction: Inter-layer spacing and zeta potential changes in response to various salt solutions , 2018 .

[37]  Xiaocheng Lin,et al.  A low-pressure GO nanofiltration membrane crosslinked via ethylenediamine , 2018 .

[38]  Jun Ma,et al.  Improved surface hydrophilicity and antifouling property of polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate grafted graphene oxide nanofillers , 2017 .

[39]  Zifeng Yan,et al.  Graphene oxide membranes with tunable permeability due to embedded carbon dots. , 2014, Chemical Communications.

[40]  Xianzhi Fu,et al.  Graphene oxide–TiO2 composite filtration membranes and their potential application for water purification , 2013 .

[41]  L. Francis,et al.  Dispersible Exfoliated Zeolite Nanosheets and Their Application as a Selective Membrane , 2011, Science.

[42]  Hongtao Yu,et al.  Combined Effects of Surface Charge and Pore Size on Co-Enhanced Permeability and Ion Selectivity through RGO-OCNT Nanofiltration Membranes. , 2018, Environmental science & technology.

[43]  W. Ni,et al.  Achieving enhanced hydrophobicity of graphene membranes by covalent modification with polydimethylsiloxane , 2017 .

[44]  G. Zeng,et al.  Cross-linking to prepare composite graphene oxide-framework membranes with high-flux for dyes and heavy metal ions removal , 2017 .

[45]  Mengchen Zhang,et al.  3D nanoporous crystals enabled 2D channels in graphene membrane with enhanced water purification performance , 2017 .

[46]  Jie Li,et al.  Layer-by-layer self-assembly of polycation/GO nanofiltration membrane with enhanced stability and fouling resistance , 2016 .

[47]  N. Aluru,et al.  Single-layer MoS2 nanopores as nanopower generators , 2016, Nature.

[48]  Baoxia Mi,et al.  Membrane surface modification with TiO2–graphene oxide for enhanced photocatalytic performance , 2014 .

[49]  Y. Yue,et al.  Carbon-based building blocks for alcohol dehydration membranes with disorder-enhanced water permeability , 2017 .

[50]  Gongpin Liu,et al.  Nanoparticles@rGO membrane enabling highly enhanced water permeability and structural stability with preserved selectivity , 2017 .

[51]  Bao-jiao Gao,et al.  Hydrophilic polysulfone film prepared from polyethylene glycol monomethylether via coupling graft , 2013 .

[52]  Chaoli Wang,et al.  Crystallization, rheology behavior, and antibacterial application of graphene oxide- graft -poly ( l -lactide)/poly ( l -lactide) nanocomposites , 2018, Applied Surface Science.

[53]  M. Otyepka,et al.  Functionalization of graphene: covalent and non-covalent approaches, derivatives and applications. , 2012, Chemical reviews.