Preparation of a novel nano-FeO/triethanolamine/GO composites to enhance Pb/Cu ions removal.

In this paper, a magnetic nano-FeO/triethanolamine/GO composite (TEA-GO-FE) was prepared by using graphene oxide (GO), triethanolamine (TEA), and ferric chloride. The result indicates that triethanolamine acted as an important role for the growing of FeO and adsorption ability of composite material. The synthesis mechanism of TEA-GO-FE was investigated through the medium of SEM-EDS, XRD, FT-IR, and TEM. The characterization results indicated FeO nanoparticles have been successfully loaded on the surface of graphene oxide and they were encapsulated by TEA and have excellent stability. According to the results of XRD, the general particle size of FeO on TEA-GO-FE was 27.5 nm. In order to understand the adsorption properties of TEA-GO-FE for Pb and Cu, this article uses a static adsorption study method. The optimized adsorption conditions are as follows: pH = 5.0, temperature is 293.15 K, and the ion concentration is 100 mg/L. Under the optimized prerequisites, the adsorption capacities of Pb and Cu were 121.5 mg/g and 68.7 mg/g, separately. Through thermodynamic as well as kinetic studies, the adsorption process of Pb and Cu on TEA-GO-FE is a self-heating process.