TY - JOUR
T1 - Large-area graphene-based nanofiltration membranes by shear alignment of discotic nematic liquid crystals of graphene oxide
AU - Akbarivakilabadi, Abozar
AU - Sheath, Phillip Andrew
AU - Martin, Samuel
AU - Shinde, Dhanraj B
AU - Shaibani, Mahdokht
AU - Banerjee, Parama Chakraborty
AU - Tkacz, Rachel
AU - Bhattacharyya, Dibakar
AU - Majumder, Mainak
PY - 2016/3/7
Y1 - 2016/3/7
N2 - 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).
AB - 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).
UR - http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/ncomms/2016/160307/ncomms10891/pdf/ncomms10891.pdf
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms10891
DO - 10.1038/ncomms10891
M3 - Article
VL - 7
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 10891
ER -