Fabrication of graphene oxide-based membrane and durian shell-based activated carbon for water treatment application

This study aimed to fabricate polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/graphene oxide (GO)/titanium dioxide (TiO₂)-based nanofiltration (NF) membrane and durian shell based-activated  carbon (DAC) for water treatment application. The electrochemical exfoliation assisted by  customized double-tail sodium bis(3,5,5-trimethyl-1-hexyl) sulphosuccinate  (AOT4)  and   triple-tail  sodium  1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulphonate  (TC14) surfactants were used to synthesize GO with N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) as solvent. The  fabrication of PVDF/GO/TiO₂-based NF membrane was done via non-solvent induced phase separation  method by utilizing DMAc_GO based and TiO₂ as an additives and also PVDF as a main polymer  material. On the other hand, durian shell was used to produce DAC by utilizing sulphuric acid as an  activator agent via chemical activation method. The NF membrane samples via dead-end cell  measurement as membrane separation were used for methylene blue (MB) dye rejection. Meanwhile, the  DAC samples via adsorption process as adsorbent were then used for MB dye removal. The findings  showed the PVDF/TC14-GO/TiO₂ NF membrane presented the highest dye flux  (98.539  L/m²h)  and  dye   rejection  efficiency (92.61%)  as  compared  to PVDF/AOT4-GO/TiO₂ membrane. This was due to the  higher surfactants’ tail number improved the fabricated membrane performance. The DAC sample showed  the maximum adsorption percentage (92.05%) by utilizing 0.6 g DAC dosage, 10 ppm initial MB  concentration and 15 minutes contact time. In conclusion, the fabricated PVDF/TC14-GO/TiO₂ and  durian shell provided a potential to be applied as NF membrane material and activated carbon,  respectively. Implication of this study is a novel,  simpler,  low-cost  and  greener  for  the   PVDF/GO/TiO₂ NF  membrane fabrication and activated carbon from durian shell production.