Unleashing the Power of Graphene-Based Nanomaterials for Chromium(VI) Ion Elimination from Water

Abstract

Graphene-oxide-based nanomaterials have gained attention in recent years in the field of heavy metal removal. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) and graphene-oxide-coated silica nanoparticles (GO/SiO2) were synthesized for the efficient removal of Cr(VI) ions from water. Synthesized nanosorbents were characterized by FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The effects of the pH and the concentration of Cr(VI) ions in adsorption, using GO and GO/SiO2, was studied using the batch process. The results of the study indicated that the maximum removal percentage was shown at pH 3 for both adsorbents. Comparatively, GO/SiO2 showed a higher removal percentage (92.28%) than GO (86.15%) for Cr(VI) at a concentration of 50 ppm. The results validate that the removal of Cr(VI) ions is highly concentration-dependent and pH-dependent. This study shows that GO and GO/SiO2 are efficient adsorbents and that GO/SiO2 has great potential over GO for the removal of Cr(VI) ions from water.

Keywords

• heavy metals
• graphene oxide (GO)
• graphene-oxide-coated silica nanoparticles (GO/SiO₂)
• adsorption
• ICP-MS