Open AccessGraphene oxide, an effective nanoadditive for a development of hollow fiber nanocomposite membrane with antifouling properties
Author(s) -
Alam Javed,
Shukla Arun Kumar,
Alhoshan Mansour,
Arockiasamy Dass Lawrence,
Muthumareeswaran Muthu Ramamoorthy,
Khan Aslam,
Ahmed Ali Fekri Abdulraqeb
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advances in polymer technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.523
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1098-2329
pISSN - 0730-6679
DOI - 10.1002/adv.21935
Subject(s) - materials science , membrane , thermogravimetric analysis , chemical engineering , contact angle , nanocomposite , biofouling , oxide , graphene , zeta potential , composite material , fouling , scanning electron microscope , nanotechnology , chemistry , nanoparticle , engineering , metallurgy , biochemistry
A series of hollow fiber ( HF ) membranes made from nanocomposites of polyethersulfone ( PES ) and graphene oxide ( GO ) at GO concentrations of 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1.0% were prepared by the dry–wet spinning process. The structure and the properties of as‐prepared HF membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy ( SEM ); atomic force microscopy ( AFM ); measurements of contact angle, zeta potential, molecular weight cut‐off ( MWCO ), and porosity; thermogravimetric analysis ( TGA ); and tensile testing. Long‐term filtration tests were performed with the proteins bovine serum albumin ( BSA ), pepsin, trypsin, and lysozyme, which are common model organic foulants used in membrane fouling studies. The results showed that HF membrane made from PES / GO nanocomposite dope had a water permeability of 30 ± 1.5 Lm −2 hr −1 bar −1 , which is an increase of approximately 36% compared to that of a PES HF membrane. Among the membranes containing GO , the membrane with a 0.5 wt% GO loading exhibited the best antifouling performance, that is, this membrane recovered more than approximately 96% of its initial pure water flux, demonstrating a high resistance to the irreversible fouling. In addition, the same membrane showed an improvement in MWCO , an approximately 15% increase in porosity, along with optimum mechanical and thermal properties.