Graphene Oxide-Supported Organo-Montmorillonite Composites for the Removal of Pb(II), Cd(II), and As(V) Contaminants from Water

The application of sorbent in solving the water pollution induced by heavy metals or metalloids is severely hindered by poor sorption performance and high cost, especially in simultaneous removal. Design and synthesis of nanocomposites as effective sorbents has been widely considered as a promising approach to address this problem. Herein, graphene oxide supported organo-montmorillonite composite (GO-OM) was prepared through a facile ultrasonic-assisted method for the first time and exhibited excellent synergetic adsorption behavior for mixed pollutants in aqueous solutions. Unlike previous studies, the simultaneous removal process can be well-described by the Freundlich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The sorption capacities of GO-OM are very high for both metal cations and oxyanionic groups, showing excellent potential in the removal of multiple contaminants. Our study also reveals that GO-OM has high recycling efficiency and good performance under a low level concentration. All results suggest that GO-OM can be used as effective and ecofriendly sorbents for the removal of combined pollutants in an aqueous environment. This work contributes to developing high-performance graphene materials with organic minerals and gives deep insight into simultaneous sorption of metal ions, which can be potentially extended to other multiple pollutants.