Evaluation of antibacterial property and greywater treatment performance using composite chitosan/graphene oxide membrane

In this study, composite chitosan/graphene oxide (CSGO) membrane was fabricated through solution casting method using chitosan (CS) and graphene oxide (GO) for its application in bathroom greywater (GW) treatment. The characteristics of CSGO membrane were also evaluated in terms of its physical and molecular structure. It was noted that the blending of hydrophilic GO into CS polymer matrix successfully improved the water flux permeation of all CSGO membrane. Low loading of GO with added porosity, 0.25CSGO(II) has significant improvement in water flux permeation of 23.43 kg/m2h at 4 bars as compared to CS only 2.82 kg/m2h due to the presence of GO that improved the membrane hydrophilicity and permeability. Besides that, composite CSGO membrane has excellent GW treatment efficiency compared to CS membrane where additional 18% chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was observed in 0.25CSGO(II) membrane. In addition, all CSGO membranes produced treated GW quality of pH 6-9.5, turbidity<5NTU, TSS<10 mg/L and non-detectable level of pathogen. The findings in this study set as a pioneer breakthrough with potential application of composite CSGO membrane in producing excellent treated GW quality that meets the reuse standard for non-potable applications.

Automated summary

In this study, a composite chitosan/graphene oxide (CSGO) membrane was successfully fabricated for bathroom greywater (GW) treatment. The addition of hydrophilic graphene oxide into chitosan matrix significantly improved the water flux permeation and GW treatment efficiency of the CSGO membrane. These findings demonstrate the potential application of CSGO membrane in producing high-quality treated GW for non-potable purposes.