Clicking graphene oxide and Fe3O4 nanoparticles together: an efficient adsorbent to remove dyes from aqueous solutions

M Namvari,H Namazi

doi:10.1007/s13762-014-0595-y

Abstract

Nanohybrid of graphene oxide (GO) and azide-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated using click reaction. First, Fe3O4 NPs were modified by 3-azidopropionic acid. Then, click-coupling of azide-modified Fe3O4 NPs with alkyne-functionalized GO was carried out in the presence of CuSO4·5H2O and sodium l-ascorbate at room temperature. The attachment of Fe3O4 NPs onto the graphene nanosheets was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and X-ray diffraction spectrometry. As the FTIR spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry analysis showed, the final magnetic graphene nanosheets were also reduced by sodium ascorbate which is a merit for click-coupling reactions. The specific saturation magnetization of the Fe3O4-clicked GO was 44.3 emu g−1. The synthesized hybrid was used in the adsorption of methylene blue and congo red (CR). The adsorption capacities in the studied concentration range were 109.5 and 98.8 mg g−1 for methylene blue and CR, respectively.

Highlights

Removing toxic metals and dye from the waste water of the manufacturing industries has been of great concern for decades
This nanohybrid was prepared in an ambient condition, and the magnetic GNS were reduced by sodium ascorbate during click-coupling reaction which was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX)
The covalent attachment of Fe3O4 NPs onto graphene oxide (GO), being able to predefine the loading amount of Fe3O4 NPs and less leaching are of other outstanding advantages of this method

Summary

Introduction

Removing toxic metals and dye from the waste water of the manufacturing industries has been of great concern for decades For this reason, numerous adsorbent with various compositions have been developed (Gupta et al 2010a, b, c, d, 2012a, b; Gupta and Nayak 2012; Gupta et al 2011, 2013; Gupta and Saleh 2013; Sanghavi and Srivastava 2013; Ahmaruzzaman and Gupta 2011; Jain et al 2003; Mittal et al 2009, 2010). Hybrid of graphene and carbon nanotubes with Fe3O4 NPs have been extensively studied in the fabrication of functional polymer composites, sensors, waste water treatment, catalysis and drug delivery (He et al 2010; Lim et al 2013; Yao et al 2012). Yao et al have reported the synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4@graphene composite which had great potential as an effective adsorbent for removing

Methods

Results

Conclusion