Preparation of a novel bio-adsorbent of sodium alginate grafted polyacrylamide/graphene oxide hydrogel for the adsorption of heavy metal ion

A novel bio-adsorbent named SA-PAM/GO hydrogel composites was synthesized through free radical polymerization. The structure and performance were characterized and analyzed by BET, SEM-EDS, FTIR and TGA. After modification, the BET surface area increased more than tripled, which was consistent with SEM results. Under optimal conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity of Cu2+ and Pb2+ were 68.76 mg/g and 240.69 mg/g, respectively. In addition, the research of kinetics and isotherms displayed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model fitted the data well. After further research, the different adsorption mechanism including physical adsorption, chemical adsorption and electrostatic interactions were discussed. The chemical adsorption accompanying the ion exchange process was confirmed as the staple adsorption mechanism. Furthermore, the adsorbent still maintained good adsorption capacity after 5 cycles of adsorption-regeneration. Therefore, the SA-PAM/GO hydrogel composites have potential to remove the heavy metal ions from water body effectively.