Multifunctional nanostructured membrane for clean water reclamation from wastewater with various pH conditions

Abstract

The development of clean water production heavily relies on membrane technology. In this study, a novel flexible nanostructured membrane consisting of hierarchical mesoporous TiO₂ sphere and sulfonated graphene oxide (GO–SO₃H) was successfully designed and fabricated for the first time. This membrane shows enhanced strength and flexibility compared with a pure inorganic membrane due to the special GO–SO₃H/TiO₂ heterojunctions. In addition, the strong coordination bonds between the sulfonic group (–SO₃H) of GO–SO₃H and Ti⁴⁺ center of TiO₂ endow this membrane with excellent adaptability in various wastewater conditions. This membrane possesses a high efficiency for concurrent photodegradation and water filtration without an organic fouling problem. Hence, this newly developed membrane has a bright future in water purification to solve the looming water crisis.