Functionalized grapheneoxide(f-GO)wassynthesizedbyasimplecovalentfunctionalizationwith
3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane(APTS).Thehybridpolyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)ultrafiltrationmembranes
werethenpreparedbyaddingdifferentratiosofgrapheneoxide(GO)andf-GOviaphaseinversion
induced byimmersionprecipitationtechnique.Zetapotentialdemonstratedthatcovalentfunctionaliza-
tion ofGOwithAPTSwasfavorablefortheirhomogeneousdispersioninorganicsolvents.SEMimages
showedthatverylargechannelappearedintop-layerbytheadditionofadditives.Furthermore,the
PVDF/f-GO membranesexhibitedsuperiorhydrophilicity,water flux, BSA flux andrejectionratethan
nascent PVDFmembranesandPVDF/GOmembranes.Filtrationresultsindicatedthatthefouling
resistance parametersweresignificantly declinedduetohigherhydrophilicityofhybridmembranes.
An atomicforcemicroscope(AFM)analysiswithaBSA-immobilizedtiprevealedthattheadhesionforces
between membraneandfoulantsincreasedinthefollowingorder:PVDF/f-GOoPVDF/GOoPVDF.Aftera
ternary cycleBSAsolutioninnerfoulingprocess,PVDF/f-GOmembranesexhibitedhigherwater flux
recoveryratio(FRR) valuethanthatofPVDF/GO.Meanwhile,tensilestrengthandelongation-at-break
of PVDF/f-GOmembraneswereincreasedby69.01%and48.38%comparedwiththoseofPVDF/GO
membranes, whichisbelievedtobeattributedtothestronginterfacialinteractionbetweenf-GOand
matrix bycovalentfunctionalizationofGO.Asaresult,GOfunctionalizationwillprovideapromising
methodtofabricategraphene-basedhybridmembraneswitheffectivereinforcedpermeation,antifouling
andmechanicalperformance.