High-Efficiency Water-Transport Channels using the Synergistic Effect of a Hydrophilic Polymer and Graphene Oxide Laminates

Graphene oxide (GO) laminates possess unprecedented fast water-transport channels. However, how to fully utilize these unique channels in order to maximize the separation properties of GO laminates remains a challenge. Here, a bio-inspired membrane that couples an ultrathin surface water-capturing polymeric layer (<10 nm) and GO laminates is designed. The proposed synergistic effect of highly enhanced water sorption from the polymeric layer and molecular channels from the GO laminates realizes fast and selective water transport through the integrated membrane. The prepared membrane exhibits highly selective water permeation with an excellent water flux of over 10 000 g m^-2 h^-1, which exceeds the performance upper bound of state-of-the-art membranes for butanol dehydration. This bio-inspired strategy demonstrated here opens the door to explore fast and selective channels derived from 2D or 3D materials for highly efficient molecular separation.