Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide

Abozar Akbarivakilabadi; Phillip Andrew Sheath; Samuel Martin; Dhanraj B Shinde; Mahdokht Shaibani; Parama Chakraborty Banerjee; Rachel Tkacz; Dibakar Bhattacharyya; Mainak Majumder

doi:10.1038/ncomms10891

Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide

Abozar Akbarivakilabadi, Phillip Andrew Sheath, Samuel Martin, Dhanraj B Shinde, Mahdokht Shaibani, Parama Chakraborty Banerjee, Rachel Tkacz, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Mainak Majumder

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

229 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Graphene-based membranes demonstrating ultrafast water transport, precise molecular sieving of gas and solvated molecules shows great promise as novel separation platforms; however, scale-up of these membranes to large-areas remains an unresolved problem. Here we demonstrate that the discotic nematic phase of graphene oxide (GO) can be shear aligned to form highly ordered, continuous, thin films of multi-layered GO on a support membrane by an industrially adaptable method to produce large-area membranes (13x14 cm²) in <5 s. Pressure driven transport data demonstrate high retention (>90%) for charged and uncharged organic probe molecules with a hydrated radius above 5Å as well as modest (30–40%) retention of monovalent and divalent salts. The highly ordered graphene sheets in the plane of the membrane make organized channels and enhance the permeability (71±5lm^-2 hr^-1 bar^-1 for 150±15 nm thick membranes).

Original language	English
Article number	10891
Pages (from-to)	1 - 12
Number of pages	12
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10891
Publication status	Published - 7 Mar 2016

Cite this

Akbarivakilabadi, A., Sheath, P. A., Martin, S., Shinde, D. B., Shaibani, M., Banerjee, P. C., ... Majumder, M. (2016). Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide. Nature Communications, 7, 1 - 12. [10891]. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10891

Akbarivakilabadi, Abozar ; Sheath, Phillip Andrew ; Martin, Samuel ; Shinde, Dhanraj B ; Shaibani, Mahdokht ; Banerjee, Parama Chakraborty ; Tkacz, Rachel ; Bhattacharyya, Dibakar ; Majumder, Mainak. / Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide. In: Nature Communications. 2016 ; Vol. 7. pp. 1 - 12.

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title = "Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide",

abstract = "Graphene-based membranes demonstrating ultrafast water transport, precise molecular sieving of gas and solvated molecules shows great promise as novel separation platforms; however, scale-up of these membranes to large-areas remains an unresolved problem. Here we demonstrate that the discotic nematic phase of graphene oxide (GO) can be shear aligned to form highly ordered, continuous, thin films of multi-layered GO on a support membrane by an industrially adaptable method to produce large-area membranes (13x14 cm2) in <5 s. Pressure driven transport data demonstrate high retention (>90{\%}) for charged and uncharged organic probe molecules with a hydrated radius above 5{\AA} as well as modest (30–40{\%}) retention of monovalent and divalent salts. The highly ordered graphene sheets in the plane of the membrane make organized channels and enhance the permeability (71±5lm-2 hr-1 bar-1 for 150±15 nm thick membranes).",

author = "Abozar Akbarivakilabadi and Sheath, {Phillip Andrew} and Samuel Martin and Shinde, {Dhanraj B} and Mahdokht Shaibani and Banerjee, {Parama Chakraborty} and Rachel Tkacz and Dibakar Bhattacharyya and Mainak Majumder",

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Akbarivakilabadi, A, Sheath, PA, Martin, S, Shinde, DB, Shaibani, M , Banerjee, PC, Tkacz, R, Bhattacharyya, D & Majumder, M 2016, 'Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide', Nature Communications, vol. 7, 10891, pp. 1 - 12. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10891

Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide. / Akbarivakilabadi, Abozar; Sheath, Phillip Andrew; Martin, Samuel; Shinde, Dhanraj B; Shaibani, Mahdokht ; Banerjee, Parama Chakraborty; Tkacz, Rachel; Bhattacharyya, Dibakar; Majumder, Mainak.

In: Nature Communications, Vol. 7, 10891, 07.03.2016, p. 1 - 12.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

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