Recent climatic changes, fairly widespread drought and extensive water use are drawing the world into a state of water scarcity and desalination is a key technology going forward. Membrane distillation (MD) is a low temperature thermal evaporative process that offers several advantages over traditional desalting methods. The principle of separation in MD is based on the difference in volatility with vapor pressure being the driving force. Here a hydrophobic porous membrane is employed as a barrier separating heated feed and cold permeate streams. As a heated aqueous solution passes through its lumen, it is partially transformed to water vapor. The hydrophobicity prevents the aqueous solution from entering the pores. In this article, we demonstrate the immobilization of graphene oxide (GO) on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane surface for desalination via direct contact membrane distillation. The graphene oxide immobilized membrane significantly enhanced the overall permeate flux with complete salt rejection, and the flux reached as high as 97 kg/m2.hr. at 800C. This enhancement in flux in presence of GO can be attributed to multiple factors including selective sorption, nanocapillary effect, reduced temperature polarization as well as the presence of polar functional groups in GO. The high flux opens the doors for relatively inexpensive desalination via MD.
About the author
Madhuleena Bhadra, Ph.D.
Education: PhD in Chemistry New Jersey Institute of Technology, 2014
Dr. Bhadra has more than 6 years’ of experience in material/polymer chemistry/surface science and is the author of one book chapter, more than 9 scientific publications and 1 patent. She has also received several awards. Her research interests lie in the area of material science, surface chemistry for various applications ranging from theory to design to implementation. Currently she is working as a research scientist at oral care product development section at Colgate Palmolive Company, NJ. Dr. Bhadra was a member of American Chemical Society, American Water Works Association and has presented her work at several conferences where she has received recognition.
About the author
Dr. Sagar Roy, Postdoctoral Research Associate, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA; [email protected]
Sagar Roy obtained his Ph.D. degree in Polymer Science & Technology from the University of Calcutta, India. He has been working as Postdoctoral Research Associate at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA. Dr. Roy was also appointed as an Adjunct faculty at the Department of Chemistry & Environmental Science, NJIT. Currently, he is doing research in the field of membrane based separation systems employing the nano-materials and novel polymeric membranes for air and water purification. His research interests are in the area of synthesis and characterization of specialty polymers and its application in various fields including membrane based separations, waste treatment, flexible batteries, nanocomposites etc. Dr. Roy is the author of more than 24 peer reviewed publications, 21 conference presentation, 1 published and 2 pending patents. Dr. Roy is a member of American Chemical Society and North American Membrane Society.
About the author
Dr. Somenath Mitra, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, USA; [email protected].
Somenath Mitra is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, MS in Environmental Engineering and PHD in Analytical Chemistry from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL in 1988. He was a National Research Council Fellow at US EPA, Research Triangle Park from 1988 to 1991 before joining NJIT. His current research focuses on nanotechnology, water purification and environmental analytical chemistry. His work has been funded by US Army, US EPA, National Science Foundation and National Institute of Environmental Health and US Department of Energy. He is the coauthor/editor of two books, has over 155 peer reviewed journal publications and over two hundred conference presentations. He also hold 11 US patents on his research.
Journal Reference
Desalination,Volume 378, 2016, Pages 37–43.
Madhuleena Bhadra, Sagar Roy, Somenath Mitra,
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
Abstract
We demonstrate the immobilization of graphene oxide on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane surface for desalination via direct contact membrane distillation. The graphene oxide immobilized membrane significantly enhanced the overall permeate flux with complete salt rejection, and the flux reached as high as 97 kg/m2 h at 80 °C. We attribute this enhancement in flux to multiple factors including selective sorption, nanocapillary effect, reduced temperature polarization as well as the presence of polar functional groups in graphene oxide.
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