Review on structural control and modification of graphene oxide-based membranes in water treatment: From separation performance to robust operation

Membrane separation has become an important technology to deal with the global water crisis. The polymerbased membrane technology is currently in the forefront of water purification and desalination but is plagued with some bottlenecks. Laminated graphene oxide(GO) membranes exhibit excellent advantages in water purification and desalination due to the single atomic layer structure, hydrophilic property, rich oxygen-containing groups for modification, mechanical and chemical robust, anti-fouling properties, facile and large-scale production, etc. Thus the GO-based membrane technology is believed to offer huge opportunities for efficient and practical water treatment. This review systematically summarizes the current progress on the water flux and selectivity intensification, stability improvement, anti-fouling and anti-biofouling ability enhancement by structural control and modification. To improve the performance of the laminated GO membrane, interlayer spacing tunability and surface modification are mainly used to enhance its water flux and selectivity. It is found that the stability and biofouling also block the service life of the GO membrane. The crosslinking method is found to effectively solve the stability of GO membrane in aqueous environment. Introducing nanoparticles is a widely used method to improve the membrane biofouling ability. Overall, we believe that this review could provide benefit to researchers in the area of GO-based membrane technology for water treatment.

Co_(3)O_(4) with ordered pore structure derived from wood vessels for efficient Hg^(0) oxidation

Catalytic oxidation of Hgo to Hg~O is an efficient way to remove Hg^(0) from coal-fired flue gas.The catalyst with ordered pore structure can lower mass transfer resistance resulting in higher Hg^(0) oxidation efficiency.Therefore,in the present work,wood vessels were used as sacrificial template to obtain Co_(3)O_(4) with ordered pore structure.SEM and BET results show that,when the mass concentrations of Co(NO_(3))_(2)·6H_(2)O was 20%,the obtained catalyst(Co_(3)O_(4) [20%Co(NO_(3))_(2)])possesses better pore structure and higher surface area.It will expose more available surface active sites and lower the mass transfer resistance.Furthermore,XPS results prove that Co_(3)O_(4) [20%Co(NO_(3))_(2)]has the highest ratio of chemisorbed oxygen which plays an important role in Hg^(0) oxidation process.These results lead to a better Hg^(0) oxidation efficiency of Co_(3)O_(4) [20%Co(NO_(3))_(2)],which is about 90%in the temperature range of 200 to 350℃,Furthermore,Co_(3)O_(4) [20%Co(NO_(3))_(2)]has a stable catalytic activity,and its Hg^(0) oxidation efficiency maintains above 90%at 250℃even after 90 h test,A probable reaction mechanism is deduced by the XPS results of the fresh,used and regenerated catalyst of Co_(3)O_(4) [20%Co(NO3)2].Chemisorbed oxygen can react with Hg^(0) forming HgO with the reduction of Co^(3+)to Co^(2)+.And lattice oxygen and gaseous oxygen can supplement the consumption of chemisorbed oxygen to oxidize Co^(2+)to Co^(3+).