Currently,
water pollution is a significant health problem for
both humans and animals due to large amounts of dye-containing wastewater.
Thus, polymer composite membranes (PCMs) are considered as efficient
adsorption/filtration membranes that can be utilized for removing
organic dyes from contaminated water/wastewater. In this study, the
goal is to explore the modification of the interfacial dialysis cellulose
(DC) surface through molecular interactions of an active graphene
oxide–chitosan (GO-CTS) composite hydrogel (GCCH) network without
the use of an external cross-linker toward an effective dye removal
ability using a simple casting process and a low-cost adsorption technique,
resulting in the formation of a PCM, i.e., GO/CTS/DC membrane (GCD-mems).
Concomitantly, the incorporation of the GCCH network (as an active
hybrid network) and DC (as a supporting material) is considered as
a promising approach toward a dye-removing PCM. As a result, the GCD-mems
showed that cellulose robustly interacted via the chemical bonds of
the GCCH network by maintaining the three-dimensional (3D) porous
layer structures, and the functional surface of the membrane was enhanced
toward specific groups for an effective dye removal approach. In addition,
there is a significant improvement in dye removal performance after
modification of the interfacial DC surface through molecular interactions
of GCCH, i.e., high adsorption capacities of cationic and anionic
dye molecules on the GCD-mems, compared to the relevant GO-based adsorbents.
Also, the dye flux and rejection of the GCD-mems can simultaneously
remove both methylene blue and Congo red. In the adsorption, it is
appropriate with the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models corresponding
to chemical adsorption and monolayer approaches, as well as physical
sieving through the 3D layers of porous channels of GCD-mems during
the filtration process. Moreover, the structural stability and sustainability
of the PCMs are enhanced during the recycling process, and the use
of ethanol in the recycling process further simplifies the process
and reduces the cost of the PCMs. Thus, the GCD-mems are encouraged
as potential candidates that can be applied directly in the removal
of dyes from the wastewater of textile industries or selective dialysis
applications.