Supported MXene/GO Composite Membranes with Suppressed Swelling for Metal Ion Sieving

• Published in: Membranes (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 8; p. 621
• Main Authors: Yin, Zongjie, Lu, Zong, Xu, Yanyan, Zhang, Yonghong, He, Liliang, Li, Peishan, Xiong, Lei, Ding, Li, Wei, Yanying, Wang, Haihui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 13.08.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Aluminum; Contact angle; Crosslinking; Desalination; Graphene; Heat; Heat treatment; Heat treatments; ion rejection; Membrane separation; Membranes; Metal carbides; Metal ions; MXene; MXenes; Nanomaterials; Nanostructure; Polyamide resins; Polyamides; Radiation; Scanning electron microscopy; Seawater; Sodium; Spectrum analysis; Substrates; Swelling; Transition metals; Two dimensional materials; two-dimensional membrane; Water purification; Czech Republic; China; Japan
• ISSN: 2077-0375; 2077-0375
• DOI: 10.3390/membranes11080621

Novel two-dimensional (2D) membranes have been utilized in water purification or seawater desalination due to their highly designable structure. However, they usually suffer from swelling problems when immersed in solution, which limits their further applications. In this study, 2D cross-linked MXene/GO composite membranes supported on porous polyamide substrates are proposed to improve the antiswelling property and enhance the ion-sieving performance. Transition-metal carbide (MXene) nanosheets were intercalated into GO nanosheets, where the carboxyl groups of GO combined the neighboring hydroxyl terminal groups of MXene with the formation of -COO- bonds between GO and MXene nanosheets via the cross-linking reaction (−OH + −COOH = −COO− + H2O) after heat treatment. The permeation rates of the metal ions (Li+, Na+, K+, Al3+) through the cross-linked MXene/GO composite membrane were 7–40 times lower than those through the pristine MXene/GO membrane. In addition, the cross-linked MXene/GO composite membrane showed excellent Na+ rejection performance (99.3%), which was significantly higher than that through pristine MXene/GO composite membranes (80.8%), showing improved ion exclusion performance. Such a strategy represents a new avenue to develop 2D material-derived high-performance membranes for water purification.