Functionalization of Graphene Oxide with 9-aminoanthracene for the Adsorptive Removal of Persistent Aromatic Pollutants from Aqueous Solution.

Ali Balati,Mostafa M Amini,Sara Karimi Behzad,Mohammad Ghanbari

doi:10.17344/acsi.2017.3372

Abstract

A novel modified graphene oxide nanocomposite was fabricated via a facial procedure, aiming to removal of the aromatic pollutants from aqueous solution. The graphene oxide (GO) was functionalized with 9-aminoanthracene and produced graphene oxide-9-aminoanthracene (GO-9-AA). FTIR, XRD, TGA, TEM and Raman spectroscopy techniques were used for characterization of the adsorbents. Adsorption of naphthalene (NAP), acenaphthylene (ACN), and phenanthrene (PHN) as a model of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated by GO-9-AA. The adsorbent showed excellent removal efficiency towards PAHs from aqueous solution. Equilibrium data of the adsorption process were successfully fitted with Freundlich model from single solute system, and the maximum adsorption capacities followed the order of NAP > ACN >PHN. The kinetic analysis revealed that the overall adsorption process was fast and successfully fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The anthracene ring makes GO-9-AA π-electron rich, thus facilitating π-π EDA interaction between NAP, ACN and PHN with GO-9-AA.

Highlights

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds that contain two or more fused rings of carbon and hydrogen
The formation of graphene oxide (GO)-9-AA nanocomposite was confirmed by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy
In graphene oxide-9-aminoanthracene (GO-9-AA), the G band shifts back to 1579 cm–1 which is relatively close to the G-band of the pristine graphite compared with GO, suggesting that electronic conjugation in GO-9-AA was restored after 9-aminoanthracene grafting on GO structure.[38,39]

Summary

Introduction

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic compounds that contain two or more fused rings of carbon and hydrogen They are persistent environmental contaminants and usually arise from incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons and other organic materials such as petroleum, coal, gas, garbage, tobacco, wood, and biomass.[1,2] PAHs enter the environment from different sources, including combustion fuel gasses, wastewater, and runoff from the petroleum industry. The sp[2] clusters are affinitive to non-electrolytic organic compounds by π–π stacking or other hydrophobic interactions[26,27] whereas the oxygen-containing functional groups tend to bind hydrophilic species due to hydrogen bonding, ion exchange or coordination effects.[28,29] Due to diverse zones of GO with different adsorption affinity, the adsorption behavior of GO mainly depends on its surface structural feature. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first example of GO-9-AA fabrication and its application for the removal of NAP, ACN and PHN from aqueous solution

Experimental

Results and Discussion

Conclusion