Graphene Nanocomposite Membranes: Fabrication and Water Treatment Applications

Abstract

Graphene, a two-dimensional hexagonal honeycomb carbon structure, is widely used in membrane technologies thanks to its unique optical, electrical, mechanical, thermal, chemical and photoelectric properties. The light weight, mechanical strength, anti-bacterial effect, and pollution-adsorption properties of graphene membranes are valuable in water treatment studies. Incorporation of nanoparticles like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and metal oxide into the graphene filtering nanocomposite membrane structure can provide an improved photocatalysis process in a water treatment system. With the rapid development of graphene nanocomposites and graphene nanocomposite membrane-based acoustically supported filtering systems, including CNTs and visible-light active metal oxide photocatalyst, it is necessary to develop the researches of sustainable and environmentally friendly applications that can lead to new and groundbreaking water treatment systems. In this review, characteristic properties of graphene and graphene nanocomposites are examined, various methods for the synthesis and dispersion processes of graphene, CNTs, metal oxide and polymer nanocomposites and membrane fabrication and characterization techniques are discussed in details with using literature reports and our laboratory experimental results. Recent membrane developments in water treatment applications and graphene-based membranes are reviewed, and the current challenges and future prospects of membrane technology are discussed.

A Facile Way to Fabricate GO-EDA/Al2O3 Tubular Nanofiltration Membranes with Enhanced Desalination Stability via Fine-Tuning the pH of the Membrane-Forming Suspensions

“…Graphene oxide (GO), for example, as a single atomic layer nanosheet rich in oxygen functional groups, has a large sheet diameter and can be directly stacked into layers to form 2D nanochannels. This advantage endows it with ultrafast water permeability and the ability to hinder salt ion transport [ 4 , 5 ], achieving a size-sieving effect. In addition, the GO nanosheet is negatively charged over a wide range of pH due to deprotonation of the carboxyl group, and the Donnan repulsion theory can be used to explain the primary separation mechanism for its desalination applications [ 6 ].…”

Intelligent Materials and Nanomaterials Improving Physical Properties and Control Oriented on Electronic Implementations

“…The research advances in micro-nano electronics using innovative polymer-based materials are mainly in flexible electronics [182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200], the synthesis of new materials having enhanced electrical properties [201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208][209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218], micro-/nanocircuits [219][220][221][222][223][224][225][226][227], and electronic components [228][229]…”

“…The realization of new materials in electronics includes the implementation of liquid materials [201][202][203][204], mechanical integrated electronic materials [205], smart materials [206][207][208][209][210][211] (magnetorheological fluids, piezoelectric micro actuators, shape memory alloys), carbon-based materials [212][213][214][215][216][217][218] (such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene-based materials exhibiting strong electrical properties). The new goals of the research could be to apply AI to enable the control of fluidity and of conductivity, switching circuit logics, the control of material detection (NP movement/orientation, NP activation), and the calibration of circuit sensitivity.…”

Synthesis of an enediyne carbon-allotrope surface for photo-thermal degradation of DNA

“…8 Graphene nanocomposites have been especially explored as water treatment membranes because of their intrinsic antimicrobial characteristics. [9][10][11][12][13] Degradation of DNA is greatly influenced by the ultraviolet light exposure, temperature, exposure time and surface properties of the interacting platforms. 14,15 Enediynes (EDEs), a class of naturally occurring antibiotics, have DNA cleaving properties that come from their ability to form a benzene diradical (Fig.…”

“…8 Graphene nanocomposites have been especially explored as water treatment membranes because of their intrinsic antimicrobial characteristics. 9–13…”