Functionalization of Graphene Oxide with Poly(Amido Amine) and Its Application in Membrane Synthesis
摘要
Graphene oxide (GO) suffers from excessive coagulation at high concentration which limits its use as membrane nanofiller. This issue can be tackled - among other options - by functionalizing GO with another nano-polymer. In this investigation, third generation of poly(amido amine) (PAMAM) was used to functionalize GO and the GO-PAMAM nanocomposite was incorporated in the polysulfone (Psf) membrane matrix. Synthesized GO- PAMAM was characterized using XRD, while the cross-sectional and surface morphology of the membranes were characterized using FE-SEM and AFM, respectively. The porosity, pore size and contact angle of the membrane were determined using appropriate techniques. The GO-PAMAM incorporated membrane exhibited a pure water permeation flux of 82 LMH/bar, which is 10 times higher than the flux exhibited by the Psf pristine membrane. Fouling tests on the new membrane showed a BSA rejection higher than 99% with an increased flux recovery rate of 10% higher compared to the one obtained using pristine Psf membrane. These preliminary results showed that blending GO-PAMAM nanocomposites in a polysulfone membrane matrix could be a good option to improve the performance of Psf ultrafiltration membranes.