Anchoring DTPA grafted PEI onto carboxylated graphene oxide to effectively remove both heavy metal ions and dyes from wastewater with robust stability

Highly efficient adsorbents, which can effectively remove both metal ions and dyes from wastewater with robust stability, are strongly required for the remediation of current polluted aqueous system, but still a challenge to be realized. Herein, a new adsorbent has been designed to solve this problem by anchoring diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) grafted polyethyleneimine (PEI) onto carboxylated GO (GOC-g-PD). Given the amino and carboxyl active groups from PEI and GOC/DTPA, our GOC-g-PD displays good adsorption capacity against not only inorganic metal ions (Cu 2+ and Pb 2+ ) but also organic dye (methylene blue: MB). The maximum adsorption capacity of GOC-g-PD for Cu 2+ , Pb 2+ and MB reached 309.60 mg·g −1 , 316.17 mg·g −1 and 262.10 mg·g −1 , respectively. Furthermore, our GOC-g-PD also exhibits good cycling stability and chemical stability against wide pH values. These outstanding properties revealed our GOC-g-PD held great potential in purifying the sewage discharged from industries. Graphical abstract