Hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic graphene oxide membrane intercalated by TiO₂ nanotubes for oil/water separation

Highlights

GO/TiO₂ membrane was prepared by assembling GO nanosheets and TiO₂ nanotubes.

The intercalation of TiO₂ nanotubes enlarged the space of GO interlayers and modified the surface morphology.

Hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic property of GO/TiO₂ membrane was obtained.

Water permeability, hydrophilicity, oleophobicity and antifouling ability of GO-based membrane were all enhanced by intercalating TiO₂ nontubes.

Abstract

Membrane technology for oil/water separation has received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic membrane with enhanced water permeability and antifouling ability were fabricated by synergistically assembling graphene oxide(GO) nanosheets and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotubes for oil/water separation. GO/TiO₂ membrane exhibits hydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties with water contact angle of 62° and under water oil contact angle of 162.8°. GO/TiO₂ membrane shows greater water permeability with the water flux up to 531 L/(m²·h·bar), which was more than 5 times that of the pristine GO membrane. Moreover, GO/TiO₂membrane had excellent oil/water separation efficiency and anti-oil-fouling capability, as oil residual in filtrate after separation was below 5 mg/L and flux recovery ratios were over 80%.The results indicate that the intercalation of TiO₂ nanotubes into adjacent GO nanosheets enlarged the channel structure and modified surface topography of the obtained GO/TiO₂ membranes, which improved the hydrophilicity, permeability and anti-oil-fouling ability of the membranes, enlightening the great prospects of GO/TiO₂ membrane in oil-water treatment.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Hydrophilic / Superoleophobic / Graphene oxide / Membrane / Titanium dioxide nanotubes / Oil-water separation

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse Foundation (No. PCRRE16003), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51308400).

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