Functionalized graphene oxide based membranes for ultrafast molecular separation

Graphene oxide (GO) has attracted an enormous attention for membrane-based technology in wastewater treatment due to its supreme properties such as two-dimensional (2D) structure, good chemical and mechanical stabilities, and high antifouling. However, due to presence of several functional groups on its basal plane and edge, which hinder its applications in wastewater treatment. Herein, we prepared GO-based lamellar membranes from GO and ginger plant extractive (GE) with various thicknesses (similar to 280 +/- 20 nm, similar to 500 +/- 30 nm, similar to 780 +/- 30 nm and similar to 1130 +/- 30 nm) by using vacuum filtration method. The GO/GE lamellar membrane (similar to 280 +/- 10 nm) showed an excellent separation efficiency for various organic dyes with ultrafast permeability i. e. rhodamine B (RB, Rejection 99 +/- 1% and permeance 320 +/- 10 Lm(-2)h(-1)bar(-1)) and methyl blue (MB, Rejection 99 +/- 1% and permeance 210 +/- 10 Lm(-2)h(-1)bar(-1)). Further, the GO/GE lamellar membrane also shows high water permeance similar to 420 +/- 10 Lm(-2)h(-1)bar(-1). In addition, these membranes also used for organic separation and results show good separation efficiency of dye molecules in organic solvent (methanol) and exhibited high rejection (>98%) for both RB and MB dye. This high separation efficiency against several dye molecules with good permeance and stability enlighten the great potential of our GO/GE lamellar membranes in water purification, desalination and other nanofiltration applications.

Automated summary

This study prepared GO-based lamellar membranes from GO and ginger plant extractive (GE) with various thicknesses, showing excellent separation efficiency and ultrafast permeability for organic dyes, as well as high water permeance. The membranes also exhibited good separation efficiency in organic solvent, highlighting the great potential of GO/GE lamellar membranes in water purification, desalination, and other nanofiltration applications.