Deposition of nano Fe3O4@mZrO2 onto exfoliated graphite oxide sheets and its application for removal of amaranth

Herein we report a novel method to exfoliate graphite to thin structure by depositing nanoparticles. Graphite was oxidated to graphite oxide (GO), and then nano Fe 3 O 4 @mZrO 2 was loaded and inserted between GO sheets as GO being reduced to reduced graphite oxide (rGO) in one step by hydro-thermal co-precipitation. As-obtained nanocomposite Fe 3 O 4 @mZrO 2 /rGO was characterized by SEM, TEM, AFM, FT-IR, BET, XRD, VSM and EDX techniques. The microscopic studies show the thickness of Fe 3 O 4 @mZrO 2 /rGO sheet is significant thinner than that of rGO sheet. Evidences indicate the presence of nano Fe 3 O 4 @mZrO 2 effectively preserves rGO sheets from stacking and forming thick structure. Amaranth was used as a model contamination to investigate the adsorption ability of the nanocomposite due to its hazardness. It shows effective adsorption ability. Based on all the evidence shown in studies, a possible mechanism for the adsorbent composing and its amaranth adsorption was postulated.