3D Porous Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol Composites: The Effect of Modification on the Adsorption Properties

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was grafted on graphene nanosheets (GN) in the reduction of graphene oxide with hydrazine hydrate. The obtained GN-PVA (GP) suspension was treated with the freezing–thawing cycle to fabricate 3D porous monolithic GP materials, which were modified with carbon disulfide to introduce xanthan groups on the wall of porous materials, marked as GPCs. The characterization of GPCs confirmed that PVA was attached on the surface of GNs, and xanthan groups were effectively functionalized on the porous structures, which were composed of randomly oriented GNs. The Pb[Formula: see text] adsorption pattern for GPC materials was investigated. The kinetic adsorption and isotherm data fit the pseudo second-order kinetic and the Langmuir isotherm models, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of Pb[Formula: see text] reached 242.7[Formula: see text]mg/g. And GPCs for Pb[Formula: see text] adsorption could be regenerated with ethylenediamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) solution for repetitious adsorption.