Removal of Cu(II) from Water by a Novel Graphene Oxide/Hexadecyltrimethylammonium Composite Sponge and Its Regeneration for Reuse

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 231; no. 6
• Main Authors: Song, Baohua, Zou, Donglei, Zhao, Yongsheng, Kuang, Yue, Sun, Zhenhua, Wu, Deyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.06.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adsorbents; Adsorption; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Calcium; Calcium ions; Cations; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Copper; Desorption; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Functional groups; Graphene; Graphite; Hydrogeology; Magnesium; Reagents; Regeneration; Regeneration (biological); Removal; River water; Rivers; Soil Science & Conservation; Solutes; Water purification; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Water treatment; Removal; Graphene oxide; Filtering material; Stability; Cu(II); Reuse
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-020-04665-0

Graphene oxide has great potential for use as an adsorbent due to the high specific surface area, high negative charges, and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. However, the difficulty of graphene oxide to separate from water renders it impractical for real water treatment. In the present study, a novel graphene oxide/hexadecyltrimethylammonium composite sponge (GO/HDTMA) was prepared and investigated for use as a filtration material for the removal of Cu(II) from water. The formed porous GO/HDTMA sponge was highly stable in water. The adsorption was spontaneous and exothermic, increasing with decreasing temperatures. The material showed good ability to remove Cu(II) with competing cations (K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , and Mg 2+ ) present. Five cycles of adsorption-desorption-regeneration studies showed that, after adsorption, the material could be successfully regenerated for repeated use by using a 1-M HCl solution as the desorption reagent. At a sufficiently high dose, GO/HDTMA showed an excellent performance for Cu(II) removal from river water containing different coexisting solutes. Finally, our 30-day column study revealed that the GO/HDTMA sponge is a good filtering material for the removal of Cu(II) from river water. In conclusion, the GO/HDTMA sponge is an excellent adsorbent material for use in flow-through water treatment applications for Cu(II) removal.