Mechanical Characterization of Graphene Oxide/Zinc Molybdate Nanocomposite Incorporated Cellulose Acetate Ultrafiltration Membranes

Abstract

Polymer membranes have significant applications in water purification but they lack high mechanical strength. In our research described here the effect of the addition of graphene oxide (GO)-based nanocomposites on the mechanical properties of the polymeric membrane were studied. GO/zinc molybdate (ZM) (GZ) nanocomposites were synthesized, added to cellulose acetate (CA) polymer solutions in various concentrations and fabricated as flat sheet membranes using a phase inversion method. The synthesized GZ-based CA nanocomposites (GZ-CA) were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultra violet-visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology of the GZ-CA ultrafiltration membranes was also characterized by FESEM analysis. The mechanical characterization of the composite membranes was studied using a universal testing machine (UTM). The presence of GZ in the GZ-CA enhanced the mechanical strength of the ultrafiltration polymeric membranes.

Keywords:

• Cellulose acetate
• graphene oxide
• phase inversion
• zinc molybdate

Acknowledgments

The authors D Jayaprakash and N Angeline Little Flower would like to thank the Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology for providing us required lab facilities. We also acknowledge SRMIST for the use of their FESEM facility.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.