2‐(N‐3‐Sulfopropyl‐N,N‐dimethyl ammonium)ethyl methacrylate modified graphene oxide embedded into cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membranes for improved performance

Abstract N‐(3‐sulfopropyl)‐N‐(methacryloxyethyl)‐N,N‐dimethylammonium betaine (SBMA) modified graphene oxide composite used as a filler in the fabrication of a nanocomposite cellulose acetate membrane was grafted through reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) technique from a GO‐Br precursor. All the prepared materials (GO, GO‐Br, PSBMA@GO) were characterized using a combination of FTIR, BET, TEM, TGA, RAMAN, and XRD. The effect of different GO and PSBMA@GO contents on cellulose acetate membranes was investigated using AFM, contact angle measurements and SEM techniques. The surface hydrophilicity of the fabricated membranes increased with increasing content of PSBMA@GO filler through the water contact angle method. The relative flux of the base membrane at 900 kPa was 66.6 L.m −2 .h −1 compared to that of PSBMA@GO composite membrane (0.5 wt%) at 117.67 L.m −2 .h −1 . The addition of the PSBMA@GO composites resulted in increased fouling resistance with high‐flux recovery (93%) and low‐overall flux decrease ratios (0.01%). Furthermore, nanocomposite membranes exhibited higher dye rejections for Congo Red (CR, 99.1% hence confirming their UF nature), methyl orange (MO, 84.2%) and methylene blue (MB, 95.3%) dyes compared with unmodified CA membranes. Overall, these nanocomposite membranes showed promising properties as potential candidates for dye removal in textile wastewater.