Graphene oxide‐based two‐dimensional molecular brush for efficient removal of lead and copper ions from water media

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, graphene oxide (GO)‐based two‐dimensional molecular brush was fabricated by grafting polyacrylamide onto GO nanosheets for efficient removal of Pb2+ and Cu2+ from water media. Owing to the rich oxygen and nitrogen functional groups in the composites, the synthetic GO two‐dimensional molecular brush can get the maximum adsorption capacity of 268.4 mg/g for Pb2+ and 127.2 mg/g for Cu2+, respectively. Moreover, the interspaces between the stacked two‐dimensional molecular brushes provide fast pathways for the diffusion of heavy metal ions. As a result, GO‐based two‐dimensional molecular brush can reach the adsorption equilibrium within 60 min. These results indicated that the synthetic GO‐based two‐dimensional molecular brush is a promising adsorbent to separate heavy metal ions from water media.