Two-dimensional, graphene-based materials have attracted great attention as a new membrane building block, primarily owing to their potential to make the thinnest possible membranes and thus provide the highest permeance for effective sieving, assuming comparable porosity to conventional membranes and uniform molecular-sized pores. However, a great challenge exists to fabricate large-area, single-layered graphene or graphene oxide (GO) membranes that have negligible undesired transport pathways, such as grain boundaries, tears, and cracks. Therefore, model systems, such as a single flake or nanochannels between graphene or GO flakes, have been studied via both simulations and experiments to explore the transport mechanisms and separation potential of graphene-based membranes. This article critically reviews literature related to single- to few-layered graphene and GO membranes, from material synthesis and characteristics, fundamental membrane structures, and transport mechanisms to potential separation applications. Knowledge gaps between science and engineering in this new field and future opportunities for practical separation applications are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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单层至很少层的基于石墨烯的分离膜。

二维石墨烯基材料作为一种新型的膜构建材料备受关注，这主要是由于它们具有制造尽可能薄的膜的潜力，因此可以提供最高的渗透率，从而可以进行有效的筛分（假设孔隙率可与常规膜相比且分子筛均一）。毛孔粗大。但是，制造大面积单层石墨烯或氧化石墨烯（GO）膜存在很大的挑战，这些膜具有可忽略的不希望的传输途径，例如晶界，撕裂和裂缝。因此，已经通过模拟和实验研究了模型系统，例如石墨烯或GO薄片之间的单个薄片或纳米通道，以探索基于石墨烯的膜的传输机理和分离潜力。本文从材料合成和特性，基本的膜结构，转运机理到潜在的分离应用等方面，对与单层至数层石墨烯和GO膜相关的文献进行了严格的评论。还讨论了该新领域中科学与工程之间的知识鸿沟以及实际分离应用的未来机会。