Synthesis of TiO2 graphene oxide-based material for textile effluent decontamination: characterization, kinetic, and mechanism studies.

In this work, a hydrothermal method was proposed to fabricate a nanomaterial composed of titanium dioxide and graphene oxide (10 wt%) (TiO2-GO). The GO was synthesized according to the modified Hummers and Offeman method, followed by exfoliation. Several characterization analyses were performed in order to investigate the structure, functional groups, and elemental composition of the nanomaterial. XRD analysis showed that the presence of GO does not change the crystalline structure of TiO2. FTIR evidenced the characteristic peaks present in both precursor materials (TiO2 and GO) and EDX confirmed the presence of GO on the TiO2-GO material. The nanomaterial was used as a photocatalyst in the TWW treatment, where the color and COD removal and the decrease of the characteristic peaks presented in the UV-Vis spectrum were investigated. The dosages of TiO2-GO and pH were studied to find the optimum operating condition. The results revealed that 0.5 g of photocatalyst with an initial pH of 3 achieve the best results under UV-A radiation. The kinetic test shows a COD removal of 87% after 90 min. The reuse test shows a decrease in COD removal after four cycles attributed to the deposition of some oxidized compounds on the catalyst surface. Finally, the efficiency of the photocatalyst was evaluated under solar radiation and it was shown that despite the good results, the performance of the TiO2-GO was better under UV-A radiation.

Adsorptive and photocatalytic activity of Fe3O4-functionalized multilayer graphene oxide in the treatment of industrial textile wastewater.

Multilayer graphene oxide (mGO) was synthesized and functionalized via co-precipitation method to produce magnetic Fe3O4-functionalized multilayer graphene oxide nanocomposite (MmGO). Photocatalytic properties of MmGO were investigated in the photodegradation of raw textile wastewater samples. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy revealed Fe-O vibrations, characterized by the band shift from 636.27 to 587.25 cm-1 on MmGO. X-ray diffraction confirmed the successful oxidation of graphite by the (002) peak at 10° and indicated the presence of Fe3O4 on MmGO surface by the peaks at 2θ 35.8° (311), 42.71° (400), 54.09° (511), and 62.8° (440). There was no detection of coercivity field and remnant magnetization, evidencing a material with superparamagnetic properties. Then, the textile effluent was treated by heterogeneous photo-Fenton (HPF) reaction. A 22 factorial design was conducted to evaluate the effects of MmGO dosage and H2O2 concentration on HPF, with color and turbidity removal as response variables. The kinetic behavior of the adsorption and HPF processes was investigated separately, in which, the equilibrium was reached within 60 and 120 min, for adsorption and HPF, respectively. Pseudo-second-order model exhibited the best fit, with COD uptake capacity at equilibrium of 4094.94 mg g-1, for chemical oxygen demand. The modeling of kinetics data showed that the Chan and Chu model was the most representative for HPF, with initial removal rate of 95.52 min-1. The removal of organic matter was 76.36% greater than that reached by conventional treatment at textile mills. The presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles attached to MmGO surface was responsible for the increase of electron mobility and the enhancement of its photocatalytic properties. Finally, MmGO presented low phytotoxic to Cucumis sativus L. with a RGI of 0.53. These results bring satisfactory perspectives regarding further employment, on large scale, of MmGO as nanocatalyst of textile pollutants.

Amino-Fe3O4-functionalized graphene oxide as a novel adsorbent of Methylene Blue: kinetics, equilibrium, and recyclability aspects.

Graphene oxide (GO) was synthetized from graphite oxidation via the modified Hummers method. Afterwards, the GO was functionalized with diethylenetriamine (DETA) and FeCl3 to obtain the novel amino-iron oxide functionalized graphene (GO-NH2-Fe3O4). FTIR, XRD, SEM with EDX, and Raman spectroscopy were performed to characterize both GO and GO-NH2-Fe3O4. The GO-NH2-Fe3O4 was then evaluated as adsorbent of the cationic dye Methylene Blue (MB); analysis of the point of zero net charge (pHPZC) and pH effect showed that the GO-NH2-Fe3O4 pHPZC was 8.2; hence, the MB adsorption was higher at pH 12.0. Adsorption kinetics studies indicated that the system reached the equilibrium state after 5 min, with adsorption capacity at equilibrium (qe) and kinetic constant (kS) of 966.39 mg g-1 and 3.17∙10-2 g mg-1 min-1, respectively; moreover, the pseudo-second-order model was better fitted to the experimental data. Equilibrium studies showed maximum adsorption capacity of 1047.81 mg g-1; furthermore, Langmuir isotherm better fitted the adsorption. Recycling experiments showed that the GO-NH2-Fe3O4 maintained the MB removal rate above 95% after 10 cycles. All the results showed sorbent high adsorption capacity and outstanding regeneration capability and evidenced the employment of novel GO-NH2-Fe3O4 as a profitable adsorbent of textile dyes.