Electrokinetic Enhancement of Water Flux and Ion Rejection through Graphene Oxide/Carbon Nanotube Membrane

Graphene oxide (GO) is promising for constructing next-generation high-performance membranes for water treatment and desalination. However, GO-based membranes are still subjected to low ion rejection or limited water flux. Herein, the electrokinetic effect is employed as a new strategy for the coenhancement of water flux and ion rejection through an ethylenediamine–polystyrenesulfonate intercalated graphene oxide/carbon nanotube (GO&EDA-PSS/CNT) asymmetric membrane. Benefiting from the external voltage applied across the GO&EDA-PSS layer, the electrokinetically driven water transport velocity is significantly increased from 0 to 23.7 μm s–1 with increasing the voltage from 0 to 3.0 V. As a result, the water flux is improved from 9.1 to 17.4 L m–2 h–1 under a transmembrane pressure of 1 bar. Simultaneously, the rejection rate for NaCl is increased from 52.4% to 78.3%. Numerical analysis reveals that the increased rejection rate is attributed to the electrokinetic enhancements of water transport through the membrane and ion partitioning between the membrane and bulk solution. These results indicate that the assistance of the electrokinetic effect is an effective means to improve membrane filtration performance, which provides a new perspective on the design of advanced membranes for achieving high water flux and rejection efficiency.