Construction of functionalized graphene separation membranes and their latest progress in water purification

Membrane separation technology has attracted increasing research interest and plays an important role in industrial wastewater treatment, urban sewage purification, oil and water separation, hence the search for perfect separation membrane is being given serious consideration. Graphene and its derivatives have significant potential applications owing to their atomic thickness, adjustable physicochemical properties and unique two-dimensional interlayer channels. It is considered as attractive components for the construction of high-performance separation membranes, which promises to break the trade-off between permeability and selectivity, leading to the ultimate separation. In this review, the current strategies that are promising in the synthesis and fabrication of graphene separation membranes (GSMs) are introduced and extensively discussed. Further the research progresses of imbedding nanoparticles in GSMs in recent years are reviewed, and the strategies of constructing GSMs with different interlayer spacing to improve membrane efficiency are explored. Finally, the application of GSMs in water purification and seawater desalination is demonstrated, highlighting some outstanding challenges associated with future perspectives in this field which would inspire the research design of next-generation GSMs.