Production of Graphene Membranes from Rice Husk Biomass Waste for Improved Desalination
Seitzhanova M. Azat S. Yeleuov M. Taurbekov A. Mansurov Z. Doszhanov E. Berndtsson R.
January 2024Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Nanomaterials
2024#14Issue 2
Inexpensive and efficient desalination is becoming increasingly important due to dwindling freshwater resources in view of climate change and population increase. Improving desalination techniques of brackish water using graphene-based materials has the possibility to revolutionize freshwater production and treatment. At the same time, graphene matter can be cheaply mass-produced from biowaste materials. In view of this, graphene material was obtained from a four-step production approach starting from rice husk (RH), including pre-carbonation, desilication, chemical activation, and exfoliation. The results showed that the produced samples contained a mixture of graphene layers and amorphous carbon. The activation ratio of 1:5 for carbonized RH and potassium hydroxide (KOH), respectively, provided higher graphene content than the 1:4 ratio of the same components, while the number of active layers remained unaffected. Further treatment with H2O2 did not affect the graphene content and exfoliation of the amorphous carbon. Preparation of the graphene material by the NIPS technique and vacuum filtration displayed different physicochemical characteristics of the obtained membranes. However, the membranes’ main desalination function might be related more to adsorption rather than size exclusion. In any case, the desalination properties of the different graphene material types were tested on 35 g/L saltwater samples containing NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, CaSO4, and MgSO4. The produced graphene materials efficiently reduced the salt content by up to 95%. Especially for the major constituent NaCl, the removal efficiency was high.
biomass waste , desalination , graphene membranes , green technology , nanotechnology , rice husk , water treatment
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Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Department of Chemical Physics and Materials Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi Ave. 71, Almaty, 050059, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Engineering Profile, Satbayev University, Satbayev Str. 22a, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Institute of Combustion Problems, Bogenbay Batyr Str. 1721, Almaty, 050012, Kazakhstan
Division of Water Resources Engineering, Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, Lund, SE-22100, Sweden
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
Laboratory of Engineering Profile
Institute of Combustion Problems
Division of Water Resources Engineering
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