Graphene-based membranes with uniform 2D nanochannels for precise sieving of mono-/multi-valent metal ions

Ion sieving is of great importance in a variety of applications, such as water desalination/purification, biomedical engineering and so on. The currently available techniques, based on ion size sieving by constructing membranes with nanochannels and nanopores, are still not able to achieve precise sieving of mono-/multi-valent metal ions. Here, we report on the fabrication of graphene-based membranes by constructing uniform two-dimensional (2D) nanochannels with effective channel heights of ~ 8 Å for precise and efficient sieving of mono-/multi-valent metal ions. Our membranes with uniform 2D nanochannels are built using facilely reduced graphene oxide (FRGO) nanosheets, which are controllably fabricated by avoiding the corrugation of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and controlling the content of oxidation groups during the reduction process. We illustrate the ability of precise sieving of mono-/multi-valent metal ions afforded by this technique by fabricating FRGO membranes with uniform 2D nanochannels, and demonstrate the excellent repeatability and long-term stability of FRGO membranes for sieving of mono-/multi-valent metal ions.