Desalination across a graphene oxide membrane via direct contact membrane distillation

We demonstrate the immobilization of graphene oxide on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane surface for desalination via direct contact membrane distillation. The graphene oxide immobilized membrane significantly enhanced the overall permeate flux with complete salt rejection, and the flux reached as high as 97 kg/m2 h at 80 °C. We attribute this enhancement in flux to multiple factors including selective sorption, nanocapillary effect, reduced temperature polarization as well as the presence of polar functional groups in graphene oxide.