Fabrication and characterization of graphene oxide-polymer nanocomposite membrane as adsorbent for lead removal

• Main Authors: Nik Abdul Ghani, Nik Rashida, Jami, Mohammed Saedi, Alam, Md. Zahangir, Wan Salim, Wan Wardatul Amani, Engliman, Nurul Sakinah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: TP155 Chemical engineering
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/86955/1/86955_Fabrication%20and%20characterization%20of%20graphene.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/86955/2/86955_Fabrication%20and%20characterization%20of%20graphene_Poster.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/86955/

Heavy metals such as lead, predominantly associated to wastewater effluents from the semiconductor industry, are harmful to the environment and human health. The utilization of polymeric membrane has been reported in numerous investigations on wastewater management of heavy metals. Therefore, this study aims to remove lead from wastewater effluent by membrane technology with dual function of adsorption and filtration process using nanomaterial of graphene oxide (GO). Graphene oxide-polymer nanocomposite (GPN) membrane was fabricated via non-solvent induced phase inversion (NIPS) method where the modification of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was conducted by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) in the matrix polymer solution. The characterizations of the prepared GPN membranes were investigated through tensile strength, porosity, surface zeta potential, SEM and AFM. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted on GPN and the results showed GPN under 10 minutes exposure and acidic condition (pH 5) exhibited higher lead removal which is about 97%. The maximum adsorption capacity, adsorption isotherm and kinetic properties of the GPN also were determined. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic models were found to be the best-fitting models of the adsorption of lead from aqueous solution. This indicated that the monolayer adsorption mechanism occurred on the surface of the membrane and involved chemisorption due to physicochemical interactions.