Graphene Based Membrane Modified Silica Nanoparticles for Seawater Desalination and Wastewater Treatment: Salt Rejection and Dyes

The clean water crisis in Indonesia is increasing every year, and waste from the textile industry sector can also add to this problem. There are various water treatment processes to deal with the clean water crisis, one of which is the desalination process using graphene oxide. With the addition of hydrophilic nanoparticles, graphene oxide (GO) membranes can increase roughness and have good mechanical strength. SiO2 nanoparticles also have a high specific surface to absorb water or are hydrophilic. This study aims to determine the ability of the GO-SiO2/Psf membrane to reject salt (NaCl solution) and filtering of methylene blue solutions. Membrane prepared by variations of Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) 0.6; 0.8; 1.0; and 1.2 ml for GO/SiO2 composite synthesis. The results showed that the GO-SiO2/Psf membrane could absorb methylene blue solution. The most optimum absorption value occurred at a TEOS concentration of 0.8 ml and had the most effective salt rejection value for NaCl solution equal to 67.22%.