Superhigh co-adsorption of tetracycline and copper by the ultrathin g-C3N4 modified graphene oxide hydrogels

Yiping Feng; Guang Chen; Yijian Zhang; Daguang Li; Chen Ling; Qiaoying Wang; Guoguang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127362

Superhigh co-adsorption of tetracycline and copper by the ultrathin g-C₃N₄ modified graphene oxide hydrogels

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Feb 15;424(Pt B):127362. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127362. Epub 2021 Sep 29.

Authors

Yiping Feng¹, Guang Chen², Yijian Zhang², Daguang Li², Chen Ling³, Qiaoying Wang⁴, Guoguang Liu²

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Key Laboratory Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: ypfeng@gdut.edu.cn.
² Guangzhou Key Laboratory Environmental Catalysis and Pollution Control, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Catalysis and Health Risk Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
⁴ Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.

PMID: 34638075
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127362

Abstract

Development of economic and efficient absorbent for the simultaneous removal of antibiotics and heavy metals is needed. In this study, a three-dimensional porous ultrathin g-C₃N₄ (UCN) /graphene oxide (GO) hydrogel (UCN-GH) was prepared by co-assembling of UCN and GO nanosheets via the facile hydrothermal reaction. Characterizations indicated that the addition of UCN significantly decreased the reduction of CO and O-CO related groups of GO during the hydrothermal reaction and introduced amine groups on UCN-GH. The UCN-GH exhibited excellent ability on the co-removal of Cu(II) (q_max = 2.0-2.5 mmol g^-1) and tetracycline (TC) (q_max = 1.2-3.0 mmol g^-1) from water. The adsorption capacities were increased as UCN mass ratio increasing. The mutual effects between Cu(II) and TC were examined through adsorption kinetics and isotherm models. Characterizations and computational chemistry analysis indicated that Cu(II) is apt to coordinate with the amine groups on UCN than with oxygen groups on GO, which accounts for the enhanced adsorption ability of UCN-GH. In the binary system, Cu(II) acts as a bridge between TC and UCN-GH enhanced the removal of TC. The effects of pH and regular salt ions on the removal of Cu(II)/TC were examined. Moreover, the prepared UCN-GH also showed comparable co-adsorption capacities in practical water/wastewater.

Keywords: Co-adsorption; Copper; Graphene oxide hydrogels; Tetracycline; Ultrathin g-C(3)N(4).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Copper
Graphite*
Hydrogels
Kinetics
Tetracycline
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Hydrogels
Water Pollutants, Chemical
graphene oxide
Graphite
Copper
Tetracycline