Adil, Nurmeen
- Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- University of Karachi
Abstract
We report the fabrication and systematic evaluation of three thin-layer graphene oxide (GO) composite membranes prepared by vacuum-filtering a GO dispersion (nominal loading 0.42 mg cm(-2)) onto low-cost microporous supports (mixed cellulose ester, nylon, PVDF; 0.45 & micro;m pore, 12 cm(2)). The membranes (M-GO, N-GO, P-GO) were characterized by AFM, SEM, XPS, and contact angle measurements to reveal support-dependent GO morphology and surface chemistry. At low (0.2 bar) transmembrane pressure (TMP), M-GO exhibited the highest steady-state water flux (425 +/- 10 L m(-2) h(-1), n = 3), followed by N-GO and P-GO, while all GO-coated membranes achieved near-complete paraquat rejection (<= LOD = 0.04 ppm) for feed concentrations of 0.1-1.0 ppm. Reusability tests on M-GO demonstrated >= 95% removal over five consecutive 1 h cycles with a flux recovery ratio (FRR) >= 65% after hydraulic flushing. In a 42 h continuous stability test at 0.2 bar, M-GO retained 66% of its initial flux and maintained >= 99% paraquat rejection. Tests in a simulated agricultural matrix (paraquat 5 ppm, 100 mM NaCl, 10 ppm humic acid) show a moderate flux decline (stabilizing at similar to 55-60% of initial flux) with paraquat rejection > 90%, indicating robustness to ionic strength and natural organic matter. The head-to-head comparison isolates the decisive role of support surface roughness and porosity in governing GO layer formation, flux stability, and antifouling behavior, a pathway to low-pressure, high-flux membranes for cationic pesticide removal.
Published in
RSC Advances
2026, volume: 16, number: 17, pages: 15802-15813
Publisher: ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Water Treatment
Nanotechnology for Materials Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d6ra00505e
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146621