Modifications in the transport pathways of graphene oxide-based membrane with varying flake size and thickness

Mass transport pathways are widely recognized as a vital role for studying graphene oxide membrane (GOM)-based water purification and dye rejection applications. Based on the structural features, GO flake size and membrane thickness, it is observed that the thicker GOMs composed of larger flake size exhibited effectively higher water flux. Moreover, this study highlights the significantly enhanced Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) rejection rates with two structural configurations of GOMs: (i) thicker GOMs composed of smaller flake sizes, and (ii) thinner GOMs composed of larger flake sizes. Via altering the stacking of GO sheets with variations of flake size and membrane thickness, this work provides insight to understand the changes in mass transport pathways of GOMs for purification applications. This thesis consists of 6 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the background of GO-based membranes for water filtration and the outline of this work. Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive literature review on GOMs, with a particular focus on their structural modifications for enhanced water transport and dye removal. Chapter 3 outlines the materials, experimental procedures, and characterization methods used in this work, including the fabrication of GOMs with varying thicknesses, preparation of three dyes with different molecular sizes, and the processes of vacuum-assisted water flux and dye rejection tests. In Chapter 4, it is systematically studied that the effect of membrane total effective transport pathways on water permeability and dye separation performance, which corresponds to GOM thickness. Chapter 5 explores the role of GO flake size in regulating the stacking structure of nanosheets and its influence on nano-filtration performance. Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the findings and discusses the implications of GO’s structural parameters for future research and membrane design.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2026

Author dc:creator

• Yang, Yuchen

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY 4.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/32074

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/107121