Potential of magnetite reduced graphene oxide/chitosan nanocomposite as biosorbent for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions

In this study, the fast and considerable adsorption of Remazol Black B (RBB) and Acid Red 22 (AR22) from an aqueous solution by magnetite reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/chitosan nanocomposite was studied. Several important parameters influencing the adsorption of dye pollutants such as pH (1-8), sorbent mass (5-25 mg), contact time (30-180 min), and dye concentration (10-50 ppm) were considered. The results showed that, the surface property of rGO, the amino, and hydroxyl functional groups of chitosan, and the magnetic property of Fe3O4, the adsorbent possesses quite good adsorption capacity to the dye under investigation. Both dye solutions sorption on nanocomposite was strongly dependent on pH. An adsorption efficiency of 95.32 and 99.46% could be achieved at initial RBB and AR22 concentrations of 20 mg/mL, respectively. In the aqueous solution of RBB and AR22, the adsorption data could be fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich equations, respectively. In addition, the adsorption kinetics of RBB and AR22 were investigated to show that it was well-described by Elovich and Blanchard models, respectively. These results indicate that magnetite reduced GO/chitosan nanocomposite could be regarded as a potential biosorbent for RBB and AR22 dye removal in wastewater treatment process. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E457-E462, 2018. (c) 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers