Facile fabrication and application of highly efficient reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-wrapped 3D foam for the removal of organic and inorganic water pollutants

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2023-08, Vol.30 (40), p.93054-93069
• Main Authors: Sahu, Prateekshya Suman, Verma, Ravi Prakash, Tewari, Chetna, Sahoo, Nanda Gopal, Saha, Biswajit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorbents; Adsorption; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Cadmium; Chromium; Compressibility; Contact angle; Contaminants; Contamination; Dyes; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Emission analysis; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Fabrication; Field emission microscopy; Field emission spectroscopy; Fourier transforms; Graphene; Graphite - chemistry; Heavy metals; Hydrophobicity; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Inorganic contaminants; Kinetics; Lead; Metals, Heavy; Mustard; Mustard oil; Oils & fats; Pollutants; Polyurethane; Polyurethane resins; Raman spectroscopy; Recoverability; Recyclability; Research Article; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectroscopic analysis; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Spectrum analysis; Thermogravimetric analysis; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Water - chemistry; Water Management; Water Pollutants; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-28976-x

The pace of water contamination is increasing daily due to expanding industrialisation. Finding a feasible solution for effectively remediating various organic and inorganic pollutants from large water bodies remains challenging. However, a nano-engineered advanced hybrid material could provide a practical solution for the efficient removal of such pollutants. This work has reported the development of a highly efficient and reusable absorbent comprising a porous polyurethane (PU) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets (rGOPU) for the removal of different organic oils (industrial oil, engine oil and mustard oil), dyes (MB, MO, RB, EY and MV) and heavy metals (Pb(II), Cr(VI), Cd(II), Co(II) and As(V)). The structure, morphology and properties of the rGOPU hybrid absorbents were analysed by using Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Brunner-Emitte-Teller (BET) analysis. The rGOPU possessed both superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity with water and oil contact angles of about 164° and 0°, respectively. The prepared rGOPU has demonstrated an excellent oil-water separation ability (up to 99%), heavy metals removal efficiency (more than 75%), toxic dye adsorption (more than 55%), excellent recyclability (> 500 times for oils), extraordinary mechanical stability (90% compressible for > 1000 cycles) and high recoverability. This work presents the first demonstration of rGOPU’s multifunctional absorbent capacity in large-scale wastewater treatment for effectively removing a wide variety of organic and inorganic contaminants. Graphical Abstract