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Highly Efficient Removal of Cu(II) from Aqueous Solution by Using Graphene Oxide

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Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO) prepared by modified hummers method was used as adsorbent for removal of heavy metal ions. The oxygenous functional groups on the surface of GO were primarily responsible for the sorption of metal ions. The effects of the parameters of pH value, contact time, Cu(II) concentration, and adsorbent dosage on adsorption were examined. The sorption process conformed to the Freundlich isotherm, and the maximum sorption capacity of 117.5 mg g−1 was observed at an initial pH value of 5.3 after agitating for 150 min. It was also found that Cu-pretreated GO could be desorbed by HCl and the reusability of GO could still maintain above 90 % of its initial capability after ten cycles. The results suggest that GO is an effective adsorbent for copper ions removal in water treatment.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51071067, 21271069, 51238002, J1210040,) and Science and Technology Program of Hunan Province (2011GK3136).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Wenqin Wu, Yan Yang, Haihui Zhou, Tingting Ye, Zhongyuan Huang, Rui Liu & Yafei Kuang

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Wenqin Wu, Yan Yang, Haihui Zhou, Tingting Ye, Zhongyuan Huang, Rui Liu & Yafei Kuang

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  1. Wenqin Wu
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  2. Yan Yang
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  3. Haihui Zhou
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  4. Tingting Ye
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  5. Zhongyuan Huang
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  6. Rui Liu
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  7. Yafei Kuang
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Correspondence to Yafei Kuang.

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Wu, W., Yang, Y., Zhou, H. et al. Highly Efficient Removal of Cu(II) from Aqueous Solution by Using Graphene Oxide. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1372 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-012-1372-5

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