Eco-Friendly Ascorbic Acid-Integrated Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes for High Performance Ionic and Molecular Sieving in Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Herein, eco-friendly GO-based composite membrane was successfully synthesized by integrating with ascorbic acid (AA). The crosslinking/bonding of GO and AA/GO composite membranes were evaluated using FT-IR technology. Surface morphology and cross-sectional investigations of the membranes were investigated by using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The d-spacing of GO and AA/GO materials was measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The as-prepared membranes exhibit excellent permeability and rejection efficiency for numerous dyes and salts. The rejection efficiency and permeability of different dyes were measured as for rhodamine B (Rejection 99.9% and permeance 180±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1), for methylene blue (Rejection 99.7% and permeance 245±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1) and Rose Bengal (Rejection 99.4% and permeance 270±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1). In addition, membrane showed good separation for NaCl (rejection 87.5% and permeance 335±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1), (Ni(NO3)2 (Rejection 95.8% and permeance 255±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1) and Pb(NO3)2 (Rejection 98.9% and permeance 170±5 L m-2 h-1 bar-1). Furthermore, the as-prepared membranes are most stable in all three media up to 65 Days. This approach highlights the potential practical applications of GO-based membranes in treating wastewater effluent from aqueous system.