In this work, polyethyleneimine-grafted graphene oxide (PEI/GO) is synthesized using graphene, polyethyleneimine, and trimesoyl chloride. Both graphene oxide and PEI/GO are characterized by a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Characterization results confirm that polyethyleneimine is uniformly grafted on the graphene oxide nanosheets and, thus, also confirm the successful synthesis of PEI/GO. PEI/GO adsorbent is then evaluated for the removal of lead (Pb2+) from aqueous solutions, and the optimum adsorption is attained at pH 6, contact time of 120 min, and PEI/GO dose of 0.1 g. While chemosorption is dominating at low Pb2+ concentrations, physisorption is dominating at high concentrations and the adsorption rate is controlled by the boundary-layer diffusion step. In addition, the isotherm study confirms the strong interaction between Pb2+ ions and PEI/GO and reveals that the adsorption process obeys well the Freundlich isotherm model (R2 = 0.9932) and the maximum adsorption capacity (qm) is 64.94 mg/g, which is quite high compared to some of the reported adsorbents. Furthermore, the thermodynamic study confirms the spontaneity (negative ΔG° and positive ΔS°) and the endothermic nature (ΔH° = 19.73 kJ/mol) of the adsorption process. The prepared adsorbent (PEI/GO) offers a potential promise for wastewater treatment because of its fast and high uptake removal capacity and could be used as an effective adsorbent for the removal of Pb2+-ions and other heavy metals from industrial wastewater.
Keywords: adsorption; graphene oxide; lead removal; polyethyleneimine; polyethyleneimine-grafted graphene oxide; water purification.