Immobilized graphene oxide-based membranes for improved pore wetting resistance in membrane distillation

Membrane distillation (MD) is a useful method for the purification of difficult feedwaters but it cannot be applied in range industries due to pore wetting. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) laminate coatings are explored overcome wetting issues. Air gap MD (AGMD) configuration was considered, using 35 g L −1 NaCl solution with 150 mg (150 ppm) Triton X-100 surfactant as feed material. The GO deposited membrane on top commercial porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) support and good adhesion achieved through use polydopamine (PDA) form hydrophilic tri-layer membrane. small size led increased resistance at least 90 h compared 20 min pristine PVDF. Additionally, extra layers PDA did not affect flux. Overall, immobilized synthesized superior performance when current membranes, meaning that can used new wastewater applications. • membranes were onto PVDF substrates. Immobilization an anchor molecule. Permeate flux affected by additional layers. Membranes stable over solutions containing surfactants.