A new material fabricated by the combination of natural mineral perlite and graphene oxide: Synthesis, characterization, and methylene blue removal

The primary objective of this research is the production of a novel material that is a combination of graphene oxide, known for its superior properties, and perlite, a natural mineral. In order to develop perlite@GO material, which is 90 % perlite and 10 % graphene oxide by mass, graphene oxide was first synthesized using the Hummer approach and then combined with perlite. A range of methodologies were utilized to demonstrate the successful fabrication of Perlit@GO. Perlit@GO's mesoporous structure, with an average pore width of 11.63 nm and an SBET surface area of 2.0781 m2 g−1, was verified by BET analysis. The adsorption capacity of Perlit@GO material as an adsorbent was tested on methylene blue (MB) adsorption. The adsorption process underwent a detailed kinetic, isothermal, and thermodynamic evaluation. It was observed that Perlit@GO continued its adsorption of the dye until the blue color of MB solution completely disappeared. Perlite@GO was found to have a maximum MB adsorption capacity (qm) of 454.55 mg g−1. The reusability of Perlite@GO up to a fifth iteration was also evaluated.