Graphene cOmposites FOR advanced drinking WATER treatment
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB - Department of Industrial and Materials Science |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 884 000 |
| Project duration | December 2019 - March 2024 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
The GO-FOR-WATER project, supported by FLAG-ERA JTC2019, with Vinnova funding the swedish projectpartner, and involves partners from Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (coordinator, IT), Chalmers University of Technology (SE), University of Patras (GR), and Sabanci University (TR). The project aims to create innovative and eco-friendly water filter materials using graphene oxide (GO) and polymer composites for drinking water applications, and fulfilled following objectives: - We synthesised and characterised chemical modified graphene from either graphite or natural/waste-derived polymer materials. - We characterised graphene and polymer porous structures including aerogels, electrospun fibers and electrospray coated composites. - We studied the new composite materials for contaminant removal in water.
Expected long term effects
Based on the collaboration with ISOF-CNR (Italy), FORTH (Greece) and Sabanci University (Turkey), we fabricated graphene-related materials and their alginate composite 3D hydrogels for ECs removal. the results were published in J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 11 (2), 2023, 109566. Besides, we also joined the design and characterisation of other graphene composite materials including GO and GNP based aerogel/membrane. The removal efficiency of selected graphene based composites were also tested with some representative pharmaceutical contaminants, and organic dyes.
Approach and implementation
The activities were focused on a) fabrication and characterisation of polymer-graphene composite, b) testing the removal efficiencies of composites on a selected mixture of metals and organic contaminants of concern. The prepared samples were mainly characterised by CUT. Full characterisation of different graphene composites was carried out in CUT by Raman, SEM-EDS and XRD analysis. CUT also developed a 3D confocal Raman imaging method for monitoring the graphene distribution in polymer matrix and revealing the structureproperty relationships.