Simultaneous enhancement of adsorption and peroxymonosulfate activation of Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide for bisphenol A removal

Abstract

Nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) was prepared by hydrothermal treatment of reduced graphene oxide. The adsorption and degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous solution were studied in the presence of N-RGO and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) at ambient temperature. It was observed that BPA removal in the system of N-RGO/PMS was significantly superior to the system of only PMS or N-RGO or N-free-RGO/PMS. The introduction of N could obviously enhance the adsorption and catalysis of RGO. Under the optimized conditions (N-RGO dosage 120mgL−1, PMS concentration 0.8mmolL−1, pH 6.6 and reaction temperature 25°C), More than 95% added BPA (88mgL−1) was almost completely removed within 10min pre-adsorption and 7min oxidative degradation. The mechanism research indicated that surface-bound SO4•− was the dominant active species. And the synergistic effect between adsorption and catalysis on N-RGO was also studied.