The Effect of Graphene Oxide Nanosheetes on Performance of Thin Film Composite Membrane for Nanofiltration Applications

This paper states the effect of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheet on performance of thin film composite (TFC)membrane for nanofiltration applications. The thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane was made via interfacial polymerization between aqueous solution, m-phenylendiamin (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on a polysulfone (psf) substrate. Graphene oxide nanosheets were added to the MPD solution to enhance the water flux in the nanofiltration system. Graphene oxides were prepared from graphite using modified Staudenmaier method. Polysulfone substrates were made by phase inversion while polyethylene glycol (PEG) was applied as the polymeric additives in the casting solution as a pore former. The nanofiltration membrane was tested using aqueous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4). The membrane water flux and the salt rejection were measured in a dead-end stirredcell filtration system. The TFN membrane showed higher pure water flux and salt (MgSO4) rejection than TFCmembrane. The GO nanosheets improved the water flux from 22 to 28 L/m2 h as well as the salt rejection to 45%. These results demonstrated that water flux and rejection of membrane were improved by adding GO nanosheets.

کلیدواژه ها:

Graphene oxide ، Nanofiltration (NF) ، Thin film nanocomposite membrane ، Polyamide