Graphene oxide modified CuBTC incorporated PVDF membranes for saltwater desalination via pervaporation

• Pervaporative desalination of GO@CuBTC/PVDF membrane performed. • Hydrophilic GO@CuBTC/PVDF membranes were prepared via phase inversion method. • 57% flux improvement achieved by addition of GO@CuBTC into pure PVDF membrane. • GO@CuBTC enhanced the membranes surface wettability, resulting in high water flux. • A superior rejection of 99.68% with an excellent flux of 36.79 L/m 2 h achieved. Recently developed porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are useful platforms for separating a wide range of contaminants from water. MOFs, which are presently being investigated for water treatment, have effectively separated various contaminants from freshwater. A thin-film composite (TFC) membrane made of GO@CuBTC incorporated polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was investigated in this study for its ability to perform pervaporative desalination of synthetic saltwater. Using phase inversion, we successfully synthesize highly stable, selective, and reproducible GO@CUBTC integrated PVDF membranes for saltwater desalination. The field-emission scanning electron microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (FESEM-EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), membrane thickness and porosity, water uptake, and contact angle was used to characterize the resulting MOF and membranes. The pervaporative desalination performance was studied as a function of GO@CUBTC loading, feed composition (0 g L −1 to 35 g L −1 NaCl), and feed temperature (55 to 75 °C). The experimental data found that the 2% GO@CuBTC/PVDF has the highest water flux of 36.79 ± 0.3 L m −2 h −1 with the salt rejection of > 99.68 ± 0.048% among all five membranes with performance stability of 260 h. The experimental results indicate that GO modified CuBTC could be an important material for the preparation of hydrophilic pervaporative desalination membranes.