Hyperbranched polyethyleneimine functionalized porous polyacrylonitrile/graphene oxide nanofiber membrane for adsorption and reduction of Au(III)

• Published in: Journal of porous materials Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 227 - 236
• Main Authors: Li, Xiao-Hua, Ma, Ying-Xia, Yang, Hai-Jun, Meng, Wen-Li, Li, Tian-Ze
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Catalysis; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Physical Chemistry; Reduction; Porous nanofiber membrane; Adsorption; Hyperbranched polyethyleneimine; Au(III)
• ISSN: 1380-2224; 1573-4854
• DOI: 10.1007/s10934-023-01508-1

Gold (Au) with excellent properties, is widely used in many fields, resulting in the depletion of Au resources and environment pollution due to a great deal of wastewater containing Au(III) produced in the industrial production process. Hence, it is necessary to remove and recover Au from wastewater. In this work, a novel hyperbranched polyethyleneimine functionalized porous polyacrylonitrile/graphene oxide nanofiber membrane (HP-PAN/GO) for adsorption of Au(III) was fabricated by electrospinning, hot-water soak and grafting methods. The effect of the solution pH, initial concentration and contact time on the adsorption performance of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was explored by batch experiments. The adsorption process was investigated by pseudo-first-order kinetic, pseudo-second-order kinetic, intra particle diffusion models, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results showed that the HP-PAN/GO with abundant amino functional groups and pore structure was successfully fabricated. The adsorption and reduction of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) were simultaneous, and Au(III) adsorbed HP-PAN/GO was partially reduced to elemental Au with hexagonal flakes and irregular particles, and the maximum adsorption capacity of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was 2601.27 mg·g −1 . The removal rate of the HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) remained over 83% after five adsorption cycles. Moreover, the HP-PAN/GO had excellent adsorption selectivity in coexisting ion system. The HP-PAN/GO could be a promising candidate for effective removal and recovery of Au(III) in wastewater.