Synthesis of Graphene Oxide Membrane for Separation of p-Xylene and o-Xylene by Pervaporation

Abstract

In this study, a graphene oxide (GO) membrane is developed for the separation of p-xylene (PX, 0.58 nm) from o-xylene (OX, 0.68 nm). Attributing to the suitable d-spacing size (0.58 nm), the GO membrane allows more PX to pass through than OX, leading to a high PX/OX selectivity. At 110 °C for the separation of equimolar PX/OX mixture, the PX/OX separation factor is 9.4 and PX flux is 145.3 g m⁻²h⁻¹, respectively, which is promising for the separation of xylene isomers by pervaporation. The separation performance of the GO membrane is further confirmed by simulation studies.