Membranes made of graphene oxide (GO) have demonstrated remarkable properties for water separation in that they allow unimpeded permeation of water, but can be completely impermeable to other liquids, vapors, and gases. This potentially provides an improved technology to address applications in water purification, desalination, and nanofiltration.  In addition, GO membranes have great potential due to their relatively easy fabrication, low cost materials, and industrial scale-up opportunities.   The narrow size range, nanoporosity and chemical functionality of these membranes all play key roles in the unique transport, however, much is still unknown about the fundamental properties of the materials and how those affect its functionality.  The GO membranes are a very complex stack of single GO layers, and the 3-D morphology of the stacking is thought to have a large impact on its function. Here we use electron tomography in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to image the 3-D structures.  We compare membranes made with a range of GO materials both synthesized at PNNL and commercially sourced, and correlate the 3-D morphology with its macroscopic structure and permeability properties.

3D characterization of graphene oxide membranes using electron tomography

248th National Meeting (2014)

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