Graphene-Supported Spinel CuFe2O4 Composites: Novel Adsorbents for Arsenic Removal in Aqueous Media

Abstract

A graphene nanoplate-supported spinel CuFe2O4 composite (GNPs/CuFe2O4) was successfully synthesized by using a facile thermal decomposition route. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Electron Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the prepared composite. The arsenic adsorption behavior of the GNPs/CuFe2O4 composite was investigated by carrying out batch experiments. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich models were employed to describe the adsorption isotherm, where the sorption kinetics of arsenic adsorption by the composite were found to be pseudo-second order. The selectivity of the adsorbent toward arsenic over common metal ions in water was also demonstrated. Furthermore, the reusability and regeneration of the adsorbent were investigated by an assembled column filter test. The GNPs/CuFe2O4 composite exhibited significant, fast adsorption of arsenic over a wide range of solution pHs with exceptional durability, selectivity, and recyclability, which could make this composite a very promising candidate for effective removal of arsenic from aqueous solution. The highly sensitive adsorption of the material toward arsenic could be potentially employed for arsenic sensing.

Adsorptive filtration of As(III) from drinking water by CuFe2O4 particles embedded in carbon nanotube membranes

“…The peaks at the binding energies of 934.07 and 954.12 eV are indexed to Cu2p 3/2 and Cu2p 1/2 ; existences of these two peaks as well as two satellites suggest that the main state of Cu in the spinel CuFe 2 O 4 is Cu(II). Figure (b) displays the spectrum of Fe2p which has two distinctive peaks at 710.22 and 724.02 eV, corresponding to Fe2p 3/2 and Fe2p 1/2 of the Fe(III) state in the spin‐orbit of CuFe 2 O 4 . These XPS results confirm that the particles prepared in this study indeed comprise CuFe 2 O 4 .…”

“…Figure 3(b) displays the spectrum of Fe2p which has two distinctive peaks at 710.22 and 724.02 eV, corresponding to Fe2p 3/2 and Fe2p 1/2 of the Fe(III) state in the spin-orbit of CuFe 2 O 4 . 24 These XPS results confirm that the particles prepared in this study indeed comprise CuFe 2 O 4 . This finding is consistent with the results obtained in the XRD analysis.…”

Nanofiltration for Arsenic Removal: Challenges, Recent Developments, and Perspectives

“…Iron oxides (mostly Fe 3 O 4 ), copper oxides, etc. were used with GO or rGO in the nanocomposites [ 202 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 ], some organic compounds such as epoxy, aminopyrazole, EDTA-Chitosan, Imino-Thiobiuret, etc. [ 201 , 207 , 208 , 209 ] and inorganic compounds like LD-Hydroxide, silica, etc.…”

Recent Advances in Applications of Hybrid Graphene Materials for Metals Removal from Wastewater

“…Graphene composites with inorganic materials represent the majority of the adsorbents used for Lead removal. Hybrids with Fe3O4 [41,48,[58][59][60][61] was very popular choice due to its magnetic properties that allow separation of the adsorbent as shown in Figure 9 [62] .…”