Graphene oxide membranes intercalated with titanium dioxide nanorods for fast infiltration and dye separation

Membrane technology has brought new developments in the field of water treatment. Membranes with ultrafast solvent transport and precise molecular separation to reduce energy consumption during separation. Graphene oxide (GO) shows great potential in the field of membrane separation. However, the low water permeability of GO membranes is the main reason limiting the development of GO membranes. This working material prepared TiO2 nanorods by one-step hydrothermal method and embedded them in GO nanosheets to achieve the enlargement of the interlayer spacing. XRD, BET and SEM were used to characterize the physical and chemical properties (interlayer spacing, specific surface area, pore size distribution, surface morphology and cross-section morphology) of the membranes. The obtained membrane has a water permeability of 420.2 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and more than 97% rejection for the four dyes (EB, MB, RB, MO). The water contact angle indicated that the membrane had good wettability (CA < 47°). The separation mechanism depends on the synergy of steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion. Their high water permeability and excellent molecular separation performance can provide promising candidates for the preparation of nanofiltration membranes with high permeation flux and excellent separation performance.