Construction of well-arranged graphene oxide/polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles membranes for pervaporation ethylene glycol dehydration

Dehydration of ethylene glycol (EG), a valued product in chemical industries, was efficiently implemented by pervaporation with a graphene oxide (GO)-incorporated polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles (PEC NPs) membrane. GO-incorporated PEC NPs with solution processability were prepared through a new strategy of “complex precipitation–redispersion”. The PEC NPs-based membranes were prepared via solution casting, and their structural characteristics and hydrophilic property were investigated systematically. Spherical PEC NPs building blocks increase cavities and thus flux of the membranes, while the tightly associated ion-pair structure coupled with strong interface interactions between regularly-arranged GO nanosheets and PEC matrix led to good separation factor. In detail, the resulted membrane PEC NPM/GO-3 presented a flux of 961 g m −2 h −1 and water in permeate of 99.25 wt% in dehydrating 10.0 wt% water/EG mixtures at 60 °C. Moreover, the PEC NPM/GO-3 showed a tensile strength of 139.1 MPa and higher long-term operation stability, which was important for commercial application.