Effective adsorption of cationic methylene blue dye on cellulose nanofiber/graphene oxide/silica nanocomposite: Kinetics and equilibrium
Ragab Abouzeid, Medhat E. Owda, Sawsan Dacrory
Abstract
Abstract Development of new adsorbent based on anionic silica precursor, cellulose nanofiber (CNF), and graphene oxide (GO) has prepared via ionic reaction followed by a sol–gel process. Different instruments were used for the characterization of the nanocomposite: Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Methylene blue (MB) adsorption on CNF/GO and CNF/GO/silica nanocomposites achieved during 60 min. A pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model was fitted to the adsorption process, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 588.23 and 625 mg/g in a slightly alkaline solution, respectively. It was found that the adsorption capacity of CNF/GO and CNF/GO/silica could regenerate the MB up to four cycles with slight decrease from 98 to 93%. This study showed that CNF/GO and CNF/GO/silica nanocomposites are effective adsorbents for organic pollutants in wastewater.