Sulfonated reduced graphene oxide modification layers to improve monovalent anions selectivity and controllable resistance of anion exchange membrane

Abstract Graphene oxide with lamellar structure has attracted research interest in various fields. In this study, sulfonated reduced graphene oxide (S-rGO) nanosheets with negatively charged sulfonic acid groups were synthesized via a facile distillation-precipitation polymerization, followed by hydrazine reduction. The sulfanilic acid was grafted on the graphene oxide sheets to separate GO nanosheets each other and provide anion channels for anions selectivity. These nanosheets were used to modify anion exchange membranes (AEMs), and to enhance the membrane monovalent anions selectivity and the modification layer conductivity, in order to meet industrial requirements. The permselectivity and separation efficiency were used to evaluate selectivities of the modified membranes. The results show that the unmodified AEM has no monovalent selectivity, while the permselectivity and separation efficiency of S-rGO modified AEMs (reduced by hydrazine hydrate steam in 10 min) increases from 0.65 to 1.80 and from −0.13 to 0.31 (in 40 min), respectively; and from 0.72 to 2.30 and from −0.07 to 0.28 (in 80 min), respectively.