Highly efficient extraction of uranyl ions from aqueous solutions using multi-chelators functionalized graphene oxide

A novel nanocaptor (GO-HDX) was designed based on the graphene oxide nanosheets functionalized with hydroxamate moieties that enabled the selective removal and recovery of extremely radioactive uranyl ions from wastewater samples. The synthesized nanocaptor (GO-HDX) was well-characterized using elemental analysis, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The U(VI) removal from aqueous solution with GO-HDX was investigated in terms of essential factors (initial pH, contact time and temperature), adsorption isotherm and thermodynamics were examined. The UO22+ ions adsorption under the studied conditions was well-?tted to the Freundlich model as well as to the pseudo-first-order model.