Facile preparation of 3D regenerated cellulose/graphene oxide composite aerogel with high-efficiency adsorption towards methylene blue

Composite aerogels consisting of graphene oxide (GO) and regenerated cellulose (RCE) were prepared via a solution mixing-regeneration and freeze-drying process. The prepared RCE/GO composites aerogel exhibited 3D network thin-walled pore structure with large specific surface area, also favorable compression recovery capability, outstanding dye elimination efficiency and reusability after the addition of GO. With addition of only 0.5 wt% GO, the methylene blue (MB) elimination efficiency of RCE/GO aerogel reached 99.0% and still remained at 90.5% after five-time reused under oscillation adsorption. In addition, our research indicates that the excellent MB adsorption of RCE/GO composite aerogel was driven by electrostatic interactions and followed a pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic and monolayer Langmuir adsorption isotherm. This investigation provides the guidance for the development of green environmental adsorbents to remove organic dye from sewage water. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.