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Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes

The adhesion enhancement of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layer in the underlying polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration membrane is a crucial step towards developing a high-performance membrane for water purification applications. In the present study, we modified the surface...

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Autores principales: Alnoor, Omer, Laoui, Tahar, Ibrahim, Ahmed, Kafiah, Feras, Nadhreen, Ghaith, Akhtar, Sultan, Khan, Zafarullah
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7602949/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33080825
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100292
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author Alnoor, Omer
Laoui, Tahar
Ibrahim, Ahmed
Kafiah, Feras
Nadhreen, Ghaith
Akhtar, Sultan
Khan, Zafarullah
author_facet Alnoor, Omer
Laoui, Tahar
Ibrahim, Ahmed
Kafiah, Feras
Nadhreen, Ghaith
Akhtar, Sultan
Khan, Zafarullah
author_sort Alnoor, Omer
collection PubMed
description The adhesion enhancement of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layer in the underlying polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration membrane is a crucial step towards developing a high-performance membrane for water purification applications. In the present study, we modified the surface of a PES microfiltration membrane with plasma treatment (PT) carried out at different times (2, 10, and 20 min). We studied the effect of PT on the adhesion, stability, and performance of the synthesized GO/rGO-PES membranes. The membranes’ surface morphology and chemistry were characterized using atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The membrane performance was evaluated by conducting a diffusion test for potassium chloride (KCl) ions through the synthesized membranes. The results revealed that the 2 min PT enhanced the adhesion and stability of the deposited GO/rGO layer when compared to the other plasma-treated membranes. This was associated with an increase in the KCl ion rejection from ~27% to 57%. Surface morphology analysis at a high magnification was performed for the synthesized membranes before and after the diffusion test. Although the membrane’s rejection was improved, the analysis revealed that the GO layers suffered from micro/nano cracks, which negatively affected the membrane’s overall performance. The use of the rGO layer, however, helped in minimizing the GO cracks and enhanced the KCl ion rejection to approximately 94%. Upon increasing the number of rGO deposition cycles from three to five, the performance of the developed rGO-PES membrane was further improved, as confirmed by the increase in its ion rejection to ~99%.
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spelling pubmed-76029492020-11-01 Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes Alnoor, Omer Laoui, Tahar Ibrahim, Ahmed Kafiah, Feras Nadhreen, Ghaith Akhtar, Sultan Khan, Zafarullah Membranes (Basel) Article The adhesion enhancement of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layer in the underlying polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration membrane is a crucial step towards developing a high-performance membrane for water purification applications. In the present study, we modified the surface of a PES microfiltration membrane with plasma treatment (PT) carried out at different times (2, 10, and 20 min). We studied the effect of PT on the adhesion, stability, and performance of the synthesized GO/rGO-PES membranes. The membranes’ surface morphology and chemistry were characterized using atomic force microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The membrane performance was evaluated by conducting a diffusion test for potassium chloride (KCl) ions through the synthesized membranes. The results revealed that the 2 min PT enhanced the adhesion and stability of the deposited GO/rGO layer when compared to the other plasma-treated membranes. This was associated with an increase in the KCl ion rejection from ~27% to 57%. Surface morphology analysis at a high magnification was performed for the synthesized membranes before and after the diffusion test. Although the membrane’s rejection was improved, the analysis revealed that the GO layers suffered from micro/nano cracks, which negatively affected the membrane’s overall performance. The use of the rGO layer, however, helped in minimizing the GO cracks and enhanced the KCl ion rejection to approximately 94%. Upon increasing the number of rGO deposition cycles from three to five, the performance of the developed rGO-PES membrane was further improved, as confirmed by the increase in its ion rejection to ~99%. MDPI 2020-10-17 /pmc/articles/PMC7602949/ /pubmed/33080825 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100292 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Alnoor, Omer
Laoui, Tahar
Ibrahim, Ahmed
Kafiah, Feras
Nadhreen, Ghaith
Akhtar, Sultan
Khan, Zafarullah
Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title_full Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title_fullStr Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title_full_unstemmed Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title_short Graphene Oxide-Based Membranes for Water Purification Applications: Effect of Plasma Treatment on the Adhesion and Stability of the Synthesized Membranes
title_sort graphene oxide-based membranes for water purification applications: effect of plasma treatment on the adhesion and stability of the synthesized membranes
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7602949/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33080825
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes10100292
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