Graphene oxide-fullerene nanocomposite laminates for efficient hydrogen purification.

Graphene oxide (GO) with its unique two-dimensional structure offers an emerging platform for designing advanced gas separation membranes that allow for highly selective transport of hydrogen molecules. Nevertheless, further tuning of the interlayer spacing of GO laminates and its effect on membrane separation efficiency remains to be explored. Here, positively charged fullerene C derivatives are electrostatically bonded to the surface of GO sheets in order to manipulate the interlayer spacing between GO nanolaminates. The as-prepared GO-C membranes have a high H permeance of 3370 GPU (gas permeance units) and an H/CO selectivity of 59. The gas separation selectivity is almost twice that of flat GO membranes because of the role of fullerene.