Graphene oxide-based polymeric membranes for broad water pollutant removal

Graphene oxide (GO) and its derivatives display excellent removal abilities of water contaminants; however, the complex preparation process of GO-based adsorbents and difficult collection of GO sheets during the adsorption process limit their practical applications. Hence, three kinds of GO-based polymeric membranes with specific adsorption characteristics were fabricated by a facile blending method, including GO/PES membrane, reduced GO (RGO)/PES membrane, and polyethyleneimine (PEI) coated GO membrane of GO@PEI/PES membrane. The GO/PES membrane exhibited selective adsorption for cationic dyes, the RGO/PES membrane exhibited selective adsorption for endocrine disruptors, and the GO@PEI/PES membrane exhibited selective adsorption for anionic dyes. The adsorption data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm well, and the adsorption process was controlled by the interparticle diffusion. The thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption reactions were spontaneous and exothermic processes. The dynamic adsorption results indicated that the prepared membranes could be used in wastewater filtration. The study indicated that GO-based polymeric membranes with broad water pollutant removal could be fabricated by facile strategies, and the problem of difficult collection of GO sheets during and after adsorption process was solved.