Modification of the interfacial glass fiber surface through graphene oxide-chitosan interactions for excellent dye removal as an adsorptive membrane

Abstract

In the present study, the interfacial surface of glass fiber, i.e., GF-like inorganic membrane, was modified using the functional groups of graphene oxide (GO)/chitosan (CTS) hybrid network for the first time. It is considered as a successful incorporation to fabricate the GO/CTS-GF-GO/CTS (GC-GF-GC) composite membrane for wastewater treatment applications, using a very simple and low-cost casting process, which can become a promising adsorptive membrane (AM). More obviously, the adsorption performance of the AM in removing cationic and anionic dyes was excellent, and it exhibited superb recycling performance compared to other existing types of AM. In addition, the adsorption performance was shown to be consistent with the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models, regard with a chemical adsorption and a monolayer approach, respectively. Due to the additional linking bond formations and interactions between the GF surface and the active GC hybrid network through their functional groups, the dye adsorption and desorption capacities were significantly enhanced. The interfacial GF surface was formed by its interfacial linking bridges, as well as it sustained the composite membrane and provided an outstanding performance in the recycling approach. Thus, the GC-GF-GC membrane is a superb adsorbent for wastewater treatment that may contribute to build an eco-friendly AM in this field, i.e., the organic dye removal in textile industries wastewater.