Effect of Graphene Oxide on the Performance of Cellulose Acetate/ Polyethylene Glycol Membrane with Blending Method for Desalination of Brackish Water

Polymeric membrane must be strong during the reverse osmosis process. Carbon-based materials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and its derivative graphene oxide (GO) have strong mechanical strength, high resistance to strong acids/ alkaline and organic solvents, and easy in accessibility. In this study, GO were blendingd into Cellulose Acetate/ Polyethylene Glycol (CA/PEG) membranes prepared by phase inversion method. Performance of the membrane was evaluated from the water flux, salt rejection, and permeability. Morphology, hydrofilicity, tensile strength were isvestigated by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier-Transformed Infra-Red (FTIR) and contact angle analysis, and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), respectively. The experiment results show that hydrophilicity and porosity increase with the addition of GO with the addition of 0.005% GO exhibits the highest value of them resulting membrane with better flux and salt rejection values as compared to the GO-free membrane. With the addition of 0.005 wt% GO resulted in salt rejection (%R) 83.3% and flux permeate (F) 2194 L/m2.h. and tensile strength of 0.0148 Mpa. Membrane with CA/PEG/GO has more advantages, where GO affects the porosity of the membrane by increasing the pore size such as fingers and reducing the thickness of the wall which will result in increased membrane performance ability. (paper)