Applications of polymer/graphene nanocomposite membranes: a review

Abstract

Abstract Progress in graphene-based materials have led to the development of polymer/graphene membranes. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in the polymer/graphene-based nanofiller nanocomposite membranes with special emphasis on technological applications. A range of polymers including thermoplastics, thermosets, and conducting polymers have been utilized for membrane formation. Membrane design and performance have been found to affect by an interfacial interaction between matrix/nanofiller, matrix type, processing technique, processing parameters, and graphene nanosheet content and functionalization. Significant mechanical, thermal, electrical, barrier, and optical properties of polymer/graphene have led to the high-performance membranes. Potential application areas of polymer/graphene nanocomposite membrane identified are for gas transport, filtration, anticorrosion, and biomedical in addition to energy relevance (fuel cell, solar cell, batteries, sensor, supercapacitor, etc.). The concisely presented viewpoint on the relevance of polymer/graphene nanocomposite points towards the recognized challenges as well as major progress and opportunities in this field.