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Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO) has been the subject of numerous studies in recent years due to the anomalous water transport through its membranes, which consist of layered, laminated structures with micrometre dimensions. The discovery of this phenomenon opened up the possibility of using GO in a variety of applications related to processes involving nanofluids and nanofiltration, as well as its potential integration in separation methods in industries through the use of GO in various filtration elements or membrane filtration systems. In the most accepted current model, a few layers of water fill two-dimensional (2D) capillaries in an interconnected structure formed by GO sheets. Recent studies have shown that high pressures can induce slight chemical modifications in GO, mainly involving adsorbed water molecules. For economic reasons, it is desirable to work with high flow rates and membranes that are as thin as possible. To primarily achieve these conditions, GO-based filtration elements modified under high pressure were fabricated in this work. Various samples were characterised by FTIR, XRD, SEM, Raman, AFM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. A nanostructured device was obtained, capable of filtering for over 29 hours with stability and efficacy in different aqueous solutions of organic dyes and clay particle suspensions up to the detection limit of UV-Vis spectroscopy. Additionally, it exhibited a rejection rate of 90% to 100% for trivalent and divalent cations in saline solutions. A comparative study on graphene oxide treated directly with a metal and a polymeric material under high pressures is presented. The presence of the metal at high pressures led to a partial reduction of the GO, which increased its electrical conductivity and caused significant surface modification. Conversely, the presence of the polymer helped preserve functional groups both on the surface and in the inner layers of the devices, which, along with the effect of high pressure, resulted in a structure that allowed for a constant flow of saline solutions containing organic and inorganic contaminants.
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