Currently most of the energy used is generated by burning fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Osmotic energy is a renewable and sustainable energy source that is generated when two solutions with different salt contents are mixed. The key to harvest the osmotic energy is the membranes that separate the two solutions. The membranes must have cationic/anionic selectivity, low resistivity, and good mechanical stability. The reduced graphene oxide (RGO) membranes may be what is needed to harvest this energy. Here the structure modification of nanopore RGO membranes was conducted by chemical oxidation of graphene oxide sheets with hydrogen peroxide, followed by hydrothermal reactions. The RGO membranes were further thermally treated at various temperatures for controlled interlayer spacing for ion selectivity. The ion transport properties and the osmotic energy generation efficiency of the resulting RGO membranes were evaluated by current-voltage measurements and are to be discussed in detail.

Tuning reduced graphene oxide-based filtration membranes for osmotic power generation

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ACS Fall 2022

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