Preparation of carboxylated graphene oxide for enhanced adsorption of U(VI)

In this study, carboxylated graphene oxide (GO-COOH) was prepared via a simple and feasible method to enhance the adsorption of U(VI). GO-COOH were characterized by FT-IR, XRD and XPS technique, and then applied as the adsorbent for U(VI) ions removal from water. The effects of conditions for U(VI) adsorption, including initial pH of aqueous solution , adsorbent dose, contact time, and initial concentration of U(VI) solution were investigated. The result indicated that the maximum adsorption of U(VI) on GO-COOH was 315 mg/g at the optimum adsorption condition ( C a  = 0.2 g/L, pH = 6.0, t  = 6 h, C 0  = 100 mg/L and T  = 25 °C), which was significantly higher than that on GO (190 mg/g) in the same condition. Compared to GO, the maximum U(VI) adsorption capacity of GO-COOH increases by 65.8%. The adsorption process was described well with pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model, indicating the chemisorption process and monolayer adsorption process.