Removal of antibiotics with different charges in water by graphene oxide membranes

Antibiotics are a large group of emerging organic pollutants with low concentration levels in the water. The presence of antibiotics will affect the ecological environment and human health. The removal of trace organic compounds by graphene oxide (GO) membranes has attracted extensive attention. This study investigated the removal of three differently charged antibiotics by GO membranes and the influence of water quality on the removal of antibiotics. It showed that a crosslinked ethylenediamine-GO (EDA-GO) membrane had better stability and higher antibiotic removal performance than a non-crosslinked GO membrane. Among the three antibiotics, penicillin (PNC) was negatively charged and had the highest removal efficiency due to steric effect and electrostatic repulsion. A low concentration (10 mmol L−1) of Na+ in water could increase the membrane flux but had no significant effect on the removal of antibiotics. Ca2+ could reduce the membrane flux and improve the removal of chloramphenicol (CAP) and PNC. The removal efficiencies of low-concentration antibiotics (500 μg L−1) were higher than those of high-concentration antibiotics (10 mg L−1). Furthermore, the removal of antibiotics under the condition of actual wastewater quality was higher than those in solutions prepared with ultrapure water. The EDA-GO membrane has great potential in the removal of antibiotics in wastewater.