Ultrafast viscous water flow through nanostrand-channelled graphene oxide membranes

Hubiao Huang, Zhigong Song, Ning Wei, Li Shi, Yiyin Mao, Yulong Ying, Luwei Sun, Zhiping Xu () and Xinsheng Peng ()
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Hubiao Huang: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University
Zhigong Song: Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Tsinghua University
Ning Wei: Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Tsinghua University
Li Shi: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University
Yiyin Mao: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University
Yulong Ying: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University
Luwei Sun: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University
Zhiping Xu: Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Tsinghua University
Xinsheng Peng: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Zhejiang University

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Pressure-driven ultrafiltration membranes are important in separation applications. Advanced filtration membranes with high permeance and enhanced rejection must be developed to meet rising worldwide demand. Here we report nanostrand-channelled graphene oxide ultrafiltration membranes with a network of nanochannels with a narrow size distribution (3–5 nm) and superior separation performance. This permeance offers a 10-fold enhancement without sacrificing the rejection rate compared with that of graphene oxide membranes, and is more than 100 times higher than that of commercial ultrafiltration membranes with similar rejection. The flow enhancement is attributed to the porous structure and significantly reduced channel length. An abnormal pressure-dependent separation behaviour is also reported, where the elastic deformation of nanochannels offers tunable permeation and rejection. The water flow through these hydrophilic graphene oxide nanochannels is identified as viscous. This nanostrand-channelling approach is also extendable to other laminate membranes, providing potential for accelerating separation and water-purification processes.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3979

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