Mechanism of highly efficient adsorption of 2-chlorophenol onto ultrasonic graphene materials: Comparison and equilibrium.

The deficiencies of the recently reported improved Hummers method for the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO), such as high reaction temperature (60°C) and long reaction time (10h), were successfully solved using a low-intensity ultrasonic bath for 30min at 40°C. Furthermore, compared to its conventional synthesis counterpart, a facile and fast, one-step ultrasonic method that excluded hydrazine hydrate was developed to synthesize reduced GO (rGO) from graphite (10min, 50°C) in the presence of hydrazine hydrate (rGO-C, 12h, 90°C). The adsorption characteristics of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) from an aqueous solution were investigated using rGOs and GOs prepared by ultrasonic (rGO-Us/GO-Us) and conventional (rGO-C/GO-C) methods. Whereas 2-CP was completely removed with rGO-Us after 50min, only 40% of 2-CP was eliminated with rGO-C. The maximum adsorption capacity of 2-CP calculated by the Langmuir model onto rGO-Us (208.67mg/g) was much higher than that onto GO-Us (134.49mg/g). In addition, the ultrasonic graphene adsorption capacities were much higher than the corresponding values of rGO-C (49.9mg/g) and GO-C (32.06mg/g). The enhanced adsorption for rGO-Us and GO-Us is attributed to their greater surface areas, excellent oxygenated groups for GO-Us and superior π-electron-rich matrix for rGO-Us, compared to other adsorbents. The adsorption of 2-CP on the rGO materials increased with increasing solution pH to a maximum around its pKa (pKa=8.85), while the adsorption for the GO materials increased with decreasing solution pH. The adsorption mechanism proceeded via hydrogen bonding in neutral and acidic media, but via π-π electron donor-accepter (EDA) interactions between 2-CP and graphene materials in basic medium. The FTIR spectrum of GO-Us after adsorption indicates that the position and intensity of many peaks of GO-Us were affected due to the adsorption of different 2-CP groups at different pHs.