Deploying holey rGO-based membranes for MPs removal

The serious environmental issue caused by the rising levels of microplastics (MPs) pollution has aroused much more attention globally, therefore, an effective strategy needs to be established to eliminate MPs from the water. Herein, we first report the preparation of membranes based on holey reduced graphene oxide (h-rGO) nanosheets for efficient removal of MPs in wastewater. Compared with those untreated rGO, the h-rGO nanosheets show a porous structure with an average size of 27.3 nm, which is a benefit for construction membrane for separation of MPs with better water flux (37.19 L m−2 h−1 kPa−1). Employing the fluorescent polystyrene (FP) microspheres and PS beads as model MPs, the as-resulted h-rGO membranes exhibit extremely high MPs removal efficiency of 99.9%. In the case of treatment of the industrial MPs containing wastewater, almost all MPs could be captured by the h-rGO membranes which were confirmed by stereomicroscope. Taking advantage of their physicochemical stability and exceptional MPs removal efficiency, the h-rGO membranes may have great potentials for the removal of MPs in wastewater.