Efficient Removal of Bisphenol A Using Nitrogen-Doped Graphene-Like Plates from Green Petroleum Coke

Abstract

Green petroleum coke, a form of industrial waste produced in the oil-refining process, was used to synthesize nitrogen-doped graphene-like plates (N-GLPs) together with melamine. In this study, characterization and batch experiments were performed to elucidate the interaction mechanism of N-GLPs and bisphenol A (BPA). Structural analysis of N-GLPs, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), showed an obvious graphene-like structure and successful nitrogen doping. In addition, compared with 8.0 m2/g for green petroleum coke, the BET surface area of N-GLPs markedly increased to 96.6 m2/g. The influences of various factors, including contact time, temperature, and initial pH on BPA removal efficiency were investigated. It was found that 92.0% of BPA was successfully removed by N-GLPs at 50 °C. Based on the adsorption experiments, it was shown that electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding, and π-π interaction enhanced the adsorption capacity of N-GLPs for BPA. According to the thermodynamic data, the adsorption process was spontaneous, physical, and endothermic in nature. Therefore, N-GLPs are efficient adsorbent material to remove BPA from wastewater.

A minireview on the utilization of petroleum coke as a precursor for carbon-based nanomaterials (CNMs): perspectives and potential applications

“…Their investigation demonstrated that petroleum green coke-based graphene was an excellent adsorbent for the removal of bisphenol-A from wastewater. 72 In another study, Mandal et al (2021) also used the liquid-phase exfoliation method with the ultrasonication process of petroleum coke to obtain sulfur and phosphorus-doped graphene sheets. They proved that graphene obtained from petroleum coke showed excellent electrochemical performance and energy storage capacity, properties that are applicable to supercapacitors.…”

Porous Nitrogen-Doped Crumpled Graphene Nanoparticles: A Metal-Free Nanozyme for Selective Detection of Dopamine in Aqueous Medium and Human Serum

“…Nitrogen, due to its similarity in size to carbon, is a remarkable element for doping, and the change in the environment produces an active domain on the surface, which can serve as an active site for catalytic reaction and hence improve the reactivity of graphene. Until now, nitrogen-doped graphene has found use in various fields including sensing nicotine, glucose, ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, and bisphenol A and in catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). As a way to improve the activity of pristine N-doped graphene, different research groups established N-doped graphene mainly as an electrochemical sensor for selective detection of biomolecules. ,, In the context of DA detection, nitrogen-doped 3D porous crumpled graphene materials have never been reported so far.…”