Experimental and modeling analyses for interactions between graphene oxide and quartz sand

Abstract

The aim of this study was to quantify the interactions between graphene oxide (GO) and quartz sand by conducting experimental and modeling analyses. The results show that both GO and quartz sand were negatively charged in the presence of 0-50 mM NaCl and 5 mM CaCl₂ (GO = -43.10 to -17.60 mV, quartz sand = -40.97 to -8.44 mV). In the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) energy profiles, the adhesion of GO to quartz sand becomes more favorable with increasing NaCl concentration from 0 to 10 mM because the interaction energy profile was compressed and the primary maximum energy barrier was lowered. At 50 mM NaCl and 5 mM CaCl₂, the primary maximum energy barrier even disappeared, resulting in highly favorable conditions for GO retention to quartz sand. In the Maxwell model analysis, the probability of GO adhesion to quartz sand (α_m) increased from 2.46 × 10^-4 to 9.98 × 10^-1 at ionic strengths of 0-10 mM NaCl. In the column experiments (column length = 10 cm, inner diameter = 2.5 cm, flow rate = 0.5 mL min^-1), the mass removal (Mr) of GO in quartz sand increased from 5.4% to 97.8% as the NaCl concentration was increased from 0 to 50 mM, indicating that the mobility of GO was high in low ionic strength solutions and decreased with increasing ionic strength. The Mr value of GO at 5 mM CaCl₂ was 100%, demonstrating that Ca²⁺ had a much stronger effect than Na⁺ on the mobility of GO. In addition, the mobility of GO was lower than that of chloride (Mr = 1.4%) but far higher than that of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Mr = 87.0%) in deionized water. In aluminum oxide-coated sand, the Mr value of GO was 98.1% at 0 mM NaCl, revealing that the mobility of GO was reduced in the presence of metal oxides. The transport model analysis indicates that the value of the dimensionless attachment rate coefficient (D_a) increased from 0.11 to 4.47 as the NaCl concentration was increased from 0 to 50 mM. In the colloid filtration model analysis, the probability of GO sticking to quartz sand (α_f) increased from 6.23 × 10^-3 to 2.52 × 10^-1 as the NaCl concentration was increased from 0 to 50 mM.

Keywords: Colloid filtration theory; DLVO theory; Maxwell model; graphene oxide; transport model.