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Effective Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous by Graphene Oxide Decorated with \(\varvec{\upalpha }\text {-}\hbox {Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\): Kinetic, Isotherm, Thermodynamic and Mechanism Study

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Abstract

The excessive phosphate discharged into the environment has damaged the ecosystem seriously. In this work, a kind of 3D adsorbents, \(\upalpha \hbox {-Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\) decorated graphene oxide \((\hbox {GO--Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3})\), was synthesized to deal with phosphate-polluted water. The phosphate adsorption capacity of \(\hbox {GO--Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\) reached to \(93.28\,\hbox { mg\,g}^{-1}\), in \(50\,\hbox { mg\, L}^{-1}\) phosphate solution at pH 6.0 and temperature 298 K, and the phosphate adsorption efficiency is very stable between the pH range of 2.0–10.5 and temperature range of 293–333 K. The adsorption progress is rapid, and adsorption equilibrium was reached within 5 min. The phosphate adsorption behavior of \(\hbox {GO--Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\) fitted the Langmuir model, and the adsorption kinetic fitted the pseudo-second-order model. Ion exchange and electrostatic attraction are the main reactions in the adsorption process. Physical adsorption and chemical adsorption both are in the adsorption process. The phosphate adsorption progress is stable and rapid; thus, it is a good choice to deal with phosphate-polluted water by \(\hbox {GO--Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\).

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the College students’ innovative experimental project of China (201610699222).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710129, China

    Lihua Bai, Luyao Yuan, Yi Ji & Hongxia Yan

  2. Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710129, Shaanxi Province, China

    Lihua Bai, Luyao Yuan, Yi Ji & Hongxia Yan

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  1. Lihua Bai
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Correspondence to Hongxia Yan.

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Bai, L., Yuan, L., Ji, Y. et al. Effective Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous by Graphene Oxide Decorated with \(\varvec{\upalpha }\text {-}\hbox {Fe}_{2}\hbox {O}_{3}\): Kinetic, Isotherm, Thermodynamic and Mechanism Study. Arab J Sci Eng 43, 3611–3620 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3124-3

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