Siloxane/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of GO nanosheets through a sol-gel process. The influence of synthesis parameters on the properties of the siloxane/GO samples was studied and their structural, morphological and physicochemical characteristics were compared using various techniques. Polyether sulfone-supported GO and siloxane/GO thin film membranes were prepared using a pressure-assisted self-assembly method using a dead-end cell, and their separation performance and antifouling ability were evaluated. Siloxane/GOs appeared to have higher interlayer spacing, higher zeta potential and thus higher dispersion stability in aqueous media compared to GO. This gave rise to slower and more uniform sedimentation of the siloxane/GOs during the filtration process and formation of thin film membranes possessing denser and smoother morphology. The porosity, mean pore radius, water contact angle and pure water flux of the prepared membranes were compared. The separation performance of the prepared membranes to remove methylene blue (MB) and penicillin G-procaine (PG-P) from water was evaluated as a function of used GO solution concentration. The antifouling ability of membranes was studied by determining reversible fouling (Rr), irreversible fouling (Rir) resistances and flux recovery ratio (FRR). The siloxane/GO thin film membranes containing larger siloxane network exhibited the highest rejection percentage for MB (∼99%) and PG-P (∼88%), which were about 40% and 90% higher than that achieved for GO thin film membranes, while the water flux remained as high as 78.1 l·m−2h−1. Furthermore, these membranes exhibited the highest chlorine resistance, stability under ultrasonication, FRR (89%) and Rr (57%) values, implying higher chemical and mechanical stability, flux recovery capacity and antifouling ability.

中文翻译：

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坚固的硅氧烷/氧化石墨烯薄膜膜：调整硅氧烷尺寸以提高分离性能和通量回收率

硅氧烷/氧化石墨烯 (GO) 纳米复合材料是通过溶胶-凝胶工艺在 GO 纳米片存在下通过原硅酸四乙酯的水解和缩合合成的。研究了合成参数对硅氧烷/GO 样品性质的影响，并使用各种技术比较了它们的结构、形态和物理化学特性。采用压力辅助自组装方法制备了聚醚砜负载的 GO 和硅氧烷/GO 薄膜膜，并评估了它们的分离性能和防污能力。与 GO 相比，硅氧烷/GO 似乎具有更高的层间距、更高的 zeta 电位，因此在水性介质中具有更高的分散稳定性。这导致在过滤过程中硅氧烷/GOs 的沉降更慢和更均匀，并形成具有更致密和更光滑形态的薄膜。比较了制备的膜的孔隙率、平均孔径、水接触角和纯水通量。将制备的膜从水中去除亚甲蓝 (MB) 和青霉素 G-普鲁卡因 (PG-P) 的分离性能评估为所用 GO 溶液浓度的函数。通过测定可逆污垢 (Rr)、不可逆污垢 (Rir) 阻力和通量恢复率 (FRR) 来研究膜的防污能力。含有较大硅氧烷网络的硅氧烷/GO薄膜膜对MB（~99%）和PG-P（~88%）表现出最高的截留率，这比 GO 薄膜膜所达到的高约 40% 和 90%，而水通量仍然高达 78.1 l·m-2h-1。此外，这些膜表现出最高的耐氯性、超声波处理稳定性、FRR (89%) 和 Rr (57%) 值，这意味着更高的化学和机械稳定性、通量恢复能力和防污能力。