Graphene oxide (GO) membranes have demonstrated exceptional potential in water treatment applications. However, instability caused by water-induced effects (e.g., swelling) has largely limited their separation performance and practical application. Here we demonstrate a Fe3O4-hybridized GO (GOF) membrane, assembled via vacuum filtration and stabilized in a tuned magnetic field. The filtration system consists of a GOF membrane, magnetizable transition supports, and commercial NdFeB magnets. With this system, the GOF membrane remains intact even under harsh ultrasonic destabilization conditions, without any deterioration of rejection performance. Further simulation results reveal that the magnetized transition supports play an important role in stabilizing the GOF membrane by mainly creating a high-gradient magnetic field along axial direction to enhance magnetic force. The GOF membrane, with a mass loading of 0.22 mg/cm2, has a water permeability of 618.2 L/(m2 h bar) and a molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) of 717.7 kDa. This simple, scalable method that physically stabilizes functional engineered nanomaterials on a surface opens new opportunities for developing nano-enabled water treatment membranes, among many other applications.

Achieving an ultrastble graphene oxide-based membrane in a magnetic field

ACS Fall 2021

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