Novel green nano composites films fabricated by indigenously synthesized graphene oxide and chitosan.

Graphene oxide (GO) was indigenously synthesized from graphite using standard Hummers method. Chitosan-graphene oxide green composite films were fabricated by mixing aqueous solution of chitosan and GO using dilute acetic acid as a solvent for chitosan. Chitosan of different viscosity and calculated molecular weight was used keeping amount of GO constant in each composite film. The structural properties, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the composite films were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile test. FTIR studies revealed the successful synthesis of GO from graphite powder and it was confirmed that homogenous blending of chitosan and GO was promising due to oxygenated functional groups on the surface of GO. XRD indicated effective conversion of graphite to GO as its strong peak observed at 11.06° as compared to pristine graphite which appeared at 26°. Moreover, mechanical analysis confirmed the effect of molecular weight on the mechanical properties of chitosan-GO composites showing that higher molecular weight chitosan composite (GOCC-1000) showed best strength (higher than 3GPa) compared to other composite films. Thermal stability of GOCC-1000 was enhanced for which residual content increased up to 56% as compared to the thermal stability of GOCC-200 whose residue was restricted to only 24%. The morphological analysis of the composites sheets by SEM was smooth having dense structure and showed excellent interaction, miscibility, compatibility and dispersion of GO with chitosan. The prepared composite films find their applications as biomaterials in different biomedical fields.

Fabrication of tethered carbon nanotubes in cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol-400 composite membranes for reverse osmosis.

In this study pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were surface engineered (SE) in strong acidic medium by oxidation purification method to form SE-MWCNT. Five different amount of SE-MWCNT ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 wt% were thoroughly and uniformly dispersed in cellulose acetate/polyethylene glycol (CA/PEG400) polymer matrix during synthesis of membrane by dissolution casting method. The structural analysis, surface morphology and roughness was carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively, which showed that the dispersed SE-MWCNT was substantially tethered in CA/PEG400 polymer matrix membrane. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of membranes also suggested some improvement in thermal properties with the addition of SE-MWCNT. Finally, the performance of these membranes was assessed for suitability in drinking water treatment. The permeation flux and salt rejection were determined by using indigenously fabricated reverse osmosis pilot plant with 1000 ppm NaCl feed solution. The results showed that the tethered SE-MWCNT/CA/PEG400 polymer matrix membrane, with strong SE-MWCNTs/polymer matrix interaction, improved the salt rejection performance of the membrane with the salt rejection of 99.8% for the highest content of SE-MWCNT.