Exploiting Synergetic Effects of Graphene Oxide and a Silver-Based Metal-Organic Framework To Enhance Antifouling and Anti-Biofouling Properties of Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membranes

Mostafa Dadashi Firouzjaei; Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi; Sadegh Aghapour Aktij; S Fatemeh Seyedpour; Mohammad Sharifian Gh; Ahmad Rahimpour; Milad Rabbani Esfahani; Mathias Ulbricht; Masoud Soroush

doi:10.1021/acsami.8b12714

Exploiting Synergetic Effects of Graphene Oxide and a Silver-Based Metal-Organic Framework To Enhance Antifouling and Anti-Biofouling Properties of Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membranes

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Dec 12;10(49):42967-42978. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b12714. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Authors

Mostafa Dadashi Firouzjaei¹, Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi², Sadegh Aghapour Aktij³, S Fatemeh Seyedpour³, Mohammad Sharifian Gh⁴, Ahmad Rahimpour³, Milad Rabbani Esfahani¹, Mathias Ulbricht⁵, Masoud Soroush²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering , The University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa , Alabama 35487 , United States.
² Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering , Drexel University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19104 , United States.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering , Babol Noushirvani University of Technology , Shariati Avenue , Babol Mazandaran 4714871167 , Iran.
⁴ Department of Chemistry , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States.
⁵ Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie II , Universität Duisburg-Essen , D-45117 Essen , Germany.

PMID: 30411881
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b12714

Abstract

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes still suffer from fouling and biofouling. In this work, by incorporating a graphene oxide (GO)-silver-based metal-organic framework (Ag-MOF) into the TFC selective layer, we synthesized a thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane that has notably improved anti-biofouling and antifouling properties. The TFN membrane has a more negative surface charge, higher hydrophilicity, and higher water permeability compared with the TFC membrane. Fluorescence imaging revealed that the GO-Ag-MOF TFN membrane kills Escherichia (E.) coli more than the Ag-MOF TFN, GO TFN, and pristine TFC membranes by 16, 30, and 92%, respectively. Forward osmosis experiments with E. coli and sodium alginate suspensions showed that the GO-Ag-MOF TFN membrane by far has the lowest water flux reduction among the four membranes, proving the exceptional anti-biofouling and antifouling properties of the GO-Ag-MOF TFN membrane.

Keywords: anti-biofouling; antifouling; graphene oxide; metal−organic framework; thin-film nanocomposite membrane.