High flux thin film nanocomposite membrane incorporated with functionalized TiO2@reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids for organic solvent nanofiltration

Abstract In this paper, graphene oxide based nanohybrids decorated with TiO 2 nanoparticles (TiO 2 @rGO) were synthesized and incorporated into the thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane for efficient organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) with antifouling properties. In order to improve the compatibility of TiO 2 @rGO in the polyamide active layer, the nanohybrids were amino-functionalized before their incorporation in the interfacial polymerization process. TiO 2 @rGO incorporated TFN membranes showed intense permeability increment and antifouling characteristics in comparison with the controlled composite membrane and graphene oxide (GO) incorporated TFN membrane. The GO nanosheets structure favors solvent channeling and TiO 2 provides super hydrophilic characteristics, both resulted in a super permeable-hydrophilic OSN membrane with high structural stability and premium antifouling properties.