double-layer nanofiltration membrane produced by introducing of chitosan nanocomposite layer containing go/polyaniline nanoplates onto polyethersulfone base substrate

A bi-layer nanofiltration membrane was created by applying a chitosan nanocomposite layer containing graphene oxide/polyaniline nanoplates onto a polyethersulfone (pes) base substrate. the solution casting method produced the pes-based membranes through the phase inversion technique. the chitosan nanocomposite layer containing different amounts of graphene oxide/polyaniline nanoplates was then introduced onto the pes membrane through a dip-coating method crosslinked by ethylene glycol. an investigation was conducted to examine the impact of the nanocomposite layer that was created on the physico-chemical properties and separation performance of the membranes. the membranes were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy, three-dimensional surface imaging, contact angle measurements, porosity and water content analysis, water permeability, sodium sulfate salt rejection, and methylene blue rejection. the water flux was increased from 4.6 l/m².h for pes based membrane to 8.29 l/m2.h for the bi-layer modified membrane. the bi-layer membranes also exhibited a significant improvement in surface wettability. surface morphology also changed from a rough surface to a smoother surface due to the surface modification. the sodium sulfate salt and methylene blue rejection were increased from 46.5% and 19.3% in the base pes membrane up to 67% and 61.3% for the double-layer nanofiltration membranes, respectively.