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Adsorptive removal of Hg2+ from aqueous solutions using amino phenyl-pyrazole-functionalized graphene oxide

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Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the ability of a new functionalized graphene oxide 3-amino-5-phenylpyrazole (F-GO) in the adsorption and removal of Hg2+ from aqueous solution. Both untreated graphene oxide (GO) and F-GO were characterized using FT-IR, EDX, FE-SEM, XRD and TGA analysis. The effects of three operational variables (pH, adsorbent dose and initial metal ion concentrations) on Hg2+ adsorption capacity of F-GO were investigated by central composite design. This technique aims to find a simple way to optimize the adsorption process and to analyze the interaction between the significant parameters. A quadratic model suggested for the analysis of variance found that the adsorption of metal ions heavily depend upon pH of the solution. The adsorption mechanism has been determined by pseudo-first-order kinetic models and the adsorption behavior was modeled by Freundlich isotherm. Results demonstrated that the adsorption capacities of F-GO for removal of Hg2+ were generally higher than those of GO, which is attributed to a decrease in the agglomeration of graphene layers due to the presence of amino-functional moieties with their bulky phenyl groups. Thermodynamic data indicated that the functionalization significantly affects the thermostability of the GO precursor materials. The desorption study demonstrated favorable regenerability of the F-GO adsorbent, even after three adsorption–desorption cycles.

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Abbreviations

B :

Constant related to the heat of sorption (J mol−1)

b :

Temkin isotherm constant

B D :

Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm constants

C 0 :

Initial metal ion concentration (mg L−1)

C e :

Final metal ion concentration (mg L−1)

E :

Activation energy

h :

Initial sorption rate in the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (mg g−1 min−1)

k 1 :

Pseudo-first-order adsorption rate constant (min−1)

k 2 :

Pseudo-second-order adsorption rate constant (g mg−1 min−1)

K d :

Equilibrium constant

K F :

Freundlich isotherm constant

K L :

Langmuir isotherm constant (mg L−1)

K T :

Equilibrium binding constant (L g−1)

m :

The weight of sorbent (g)

n :

Adsorption intensity

q :

Sorption capacity at any time (mg g−1)

q D :

Theoretical Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm saturation capacity (mg g−1)

q e :

Sorption capacity at equilibrium (mg g−1)

q max :

Maximum adsorption capacity

r :

Removal efficiency

R :

Universal gas constant (8.314, J K−1 mol−1)

R L :

The dimensionless separation factor of the Langmuir isotherm model

V :

The volume of metal ion solution (L)

Y :

The removal percent

α :

Initial sorption rate in Elovich kinetic model (mg g−1 min−1)

β :

Elovich kinetic constant (g mg−1)

ΔG° :

Changes in Gibbs free energy (kJ mol−1)

ΔH° :

Changes in enthalpy (kJ mol−1)

ΔS° :

Changes in entropy (J K−1 mol−1)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Golestan University, Gorgan, 19395-3697, Iran

    Mobina Alimohammady

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran

    Mehdi Ghaemi

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  1. Mobina Alimohammady
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  2. Mehdi Ghaemi
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Correspondence to Mobina Alimohammady.

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Alimohammady, M., Ghaemi, M. Adsorptive removal of Hg2+ from aqueous solutions using amino phenyl-pyrazole-functionalized graphene oxide. Carbon Lett. 30, 493–508 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-019-00119-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-019-00119-8

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