Structurally stable graphene oxide-based nanofiltration membranes with bioadhesive polydopamine coating

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes possess promising potential in liquid separation for its high flux. The state-of-art GO-based membranes need to be supported by a substrate to ensure that the ultra-thin GO layer can withstand transmembrane pressure in practical applications. The interfacial compatibility of this kind of composite membrane remains a great challenge due to the intrinsic difference in chemical/physical properties between the GO sheets and the substrate. In this paper, a structurally stable GO-based composite nanofiltration membrane was fabricated by coupling the mussel-inspired adhesive platform and filtration-assisted assembly of GO laminates. The water flux for the prepared GO-based nanofiltration membrane reached up to 85 L m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1) with a high retention above 95% and 100% for Orange G and Congo Red, respectively. The membrane exhibited highly stable structure owing to the covalent and noncovalent interactions between GO separation layer and dopamine adhesive platform. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.