A facile and green method to fabricate graphene-based multifunctional hydrogels for miniature-scale water purification

Abstract

The self-assembly of two-dimensional (2D) graphene sheets into three-dimensional (3D) structures is an effective approach to fabricate graphene-based hierarchical architectures for practical applications. Here we report an easy and environmentally friendly method to fabricate a graphene-based multifunctional hydrogel using a biocompatible polysaccharide as both a stabilizer and a physical cross-linking agent. The as-prepared hydrogel is highly stable in a variety of harsh conditions such as strong acid, strong alkali, high ion strength solution, and organic solvent. Moreover, it shows excellent dye adsorption and antibacterial capability, and has been successfully used for miniature-scale water purification. The present work provides a new insight for the self-assembly of functionalized graphene with biomolecules, offering an alternative way to fabricate multifunctional materials for a wide range of applications.

One-pot synthesis and characterization of reduced graphene oxide–gelatin nanocomposite hydrogels

“…30 A RGO-agarose hydrogel was fabricated for miniature-scale water purification. 31 Gelatin is a denatured biopolymer, derived from collagen, with abundant amino groups on its molecular chains. 32 It possesses distinctive characteristics, such as biocompatibility, remarkable affinity to proteins, biodegradability and low cost, therefore it is commonly used for pharmaceutical and medical applications.…”

A facile one-pot method to two kinds of graphene oxide-based hydrogels with broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties

“…After the addition of DA, the positions of G and D bands are intact, but the intensity ratio of D/G band increases remarkably compared with that of GO. The result illustrates that GO is partially reduced by DA [28,30]. This indicates that rGO has the capability of adsorbing some special aromatic compounds that cannot be adsorbed by GO [29].…”

The Antibacterial Applications of Graphene and Its Derivatives

“…The antibacterial properties of rGO hybrid materials were affected by membrane stress, oxidative stress and the photothermal effect. After adding agarose (AG) for physical cross‐linking and reduction, rGO formed a type of dye‐adsorbing and antibacterial hydrogel ( Figure ) . A water‐solubilized brilliant blue (BB)‐rGO composite has been applied as a drug carrier for TTPs via π–π interactions.…”

“…Images depicting the antibacterial activity of different hydrogels (lower panels). Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2013, The Royal Society of Chemistry (A, B, C, D, E, F).…”