Evaluation of Humic Acid and Tannic Acid Fouling in Graphene Oxide-Coated Ultrafiltration Membranes.

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States.

Published: August 2016

AI Article Synopsis

  • Three types of ultrafiltration membranes made of poly(ether sulfone) were coated with graphene oxide to improve their properties and performance in filtering substances.
  • Tests showed that the graphene oxide-coated membranes had better water permeability and rejected humic acid molecules more effectively than the uncoated membranes, increasing those rates by 15% and 55% respectively.
  • However, when dealing with mixed-solute tests involving humic and tannic acids, the smaller tannic acid molecules caused significant fouling on the membranes, but the graphene oxide-coated membranes still performed better overall in resisting fouling and maintaining effectiveness.

Article Abstract

Three commercially available ultrafiltration (UF) membranes (poly(ether sulfone), PES) that have nominal molecular weight cut-offs (5, 10, and 30 kDa) were coated with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, water contact angle measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to determine the changed physicochemical properties of the membranes after GO coating. The water permeability and single-solute rejection of GO-coated (GOC) membranes for humic acid (HA) molecules were significantly higher by approximately 15% and 55%, respectively, compared to those of pristine UF membranes. However, the GOc membranes for single-solute tannic acid (TA) rejection showed similar trends of higher flux decline versus pristine PES membranes, because the relatively smaller TA molecules were readily adsorbed onto the membrane pores. When the mixed-solute of HA and TA rejection tests were performed, in particular, the adsorbed small TA molecules resulted in irreversible membrane fouling due to cake formation and membrane pore blocking on the membrane surface for the HA molecules. Although both membranes showed significantly higher flux declines for small molecules rejection, the GOc membranes showed better performance than the pristine UF membranes in terms of the rejection of various mixed-solute molecules, due to higher membrane recovery and antifouling capabilities.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b08020DOI Listing

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