Adsorption characteristics of tetrabromobisphenol A onto sodium bisulfite reduced graphene oxide aerogels

Abstract

Adsorbent 3-D sodium bisulfite reduced-graphene aerogels (S-rGA) were fabricated via the reduction of graphene oxide. It has high adsorption capacity and excellent reusability for the removal of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). S-rGA with its unique block and porous network structure was characterized using scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The adsorption characteristics of S-rGA to TBBPA were investigated through batch experiments. In the study, the adsorption kinetics were well described by the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption equilibrium well fit to the Langmuir model with maximum adsorption capacity of 128.37mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters suggested that the adsorption of TBBPA was exothermic and spontaneous. Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated that ππ interaction might be consistent with the adsorption of TBBPA by S-rGA. Furthermore, reuse experiments indicated that S-rGA could be regenerated five times with only a slight loss in adsorption capacity. These results demonstrated that S-rGA is potentially an ideal adsorbents for enhancing the adsorption capacity of TBBPA in aqueous environments.