Billions of people around the world are affected by water pollution. Water pollution treatment costs 4.3 billion dollars in the US; this number is expected to grow. Access to clean water is one of the main challenges of our time. Saltwater is abundant but is not fit for human consumption. Several treatment methods for purification and desalination have been developed, yet no clear, cost-effective alternative has been widely accepted. There is a need for a cheaper and more efficient alternative that can be implemented universally. Graphene oxide membranes have shown to be attractive alternative for desalination due to its adsorption properties and relative cost. The goal of this project is to produce a cost-effective modified graphene oxide material for water filtration and desalination. The objectives of this project are to prepare and modify graphene oxide (GO) using functional groups of interest. The first modification involved adding a thiol (-SH) group to the graphene oxide (GOS). In addition, the ability to adsorb ions and antimicrobial activity will be measured. Using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) and UV-Vis spectroscopy, both GO and GOS were preliminarily characterized. For GO, using FTIR peaks at around 2800, 1680 and 1040 cm-1 were observed, which coincided with values reported in the literature. Similar results were obtained for GOS. Adsorption measurements were performed for activated carbon (AC), GO and GOS. Surface area for AC was estimated at 1.82 + 0.8 x103 m2 per gram. Similar adsorption studies for GO and GOS are underway. Conductivity measurements using NaCl solutions with concentrations of 1%, 5%, and 10% w/v are underway to determine adsorption of ions. This measurement is being conducted for AC, GO and GOS separately. Further characterization is required for GO and GOS. Material characterization will include electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, and antimicrobial properties testing.

Modification of graphene oxide for desalination and antibacterial application

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.