A novel rGO-Fe3O4-mixed cellulose ester membrane for solar evaporation and seawater desalination

In order to boost the photothermal conversion and solar evaporation efficiency of membrane, mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filter membranes was modified by reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, and a novel rGO-Fe 3 O 4 -MCE membrane was developed. Firstly, the solvothermal synthesis process of hybrid material rGO-Fe 3 O 4 was presented, and then the preparation process of rGO-Fe 3 O 4 /MCE membrane was introduced. Effects of different rGO mass fractions, rGO-Fe 3 O 4 loadings and light intensity on the photothermal evaporation of the thin membrane were experimentally researched. Results indicated that rGO-Fe 3 O 4 /MCE membrane shows excellent sunlight absorption and photothermal conversion efficient owing to its fast water transport capability, the evaporation rate is 1.501 kg m −2  h −1 , and the solar vapor conversion efficiency is 89.69 %, which exceeds the conversion efficiency of most previous solar evaporators. The membrane desalination performance and durability study were also conducted. Cycling tests confirmed that the system is able to maintain stable performance for 20 cycles under the same lighting conditions. The novel rGO-Fe 3 O 4 /MCE membrane of this paper has great potential application value owing to its great photothermal conversion efficiency, stable mechanical properties, cost-effectiveness, simple preparation process, and strong reusability.