Abstract:
Graphene oxide (GO) wrapped Fe
3O
4 nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by coating the Fe
3O
4 NPs with a SiO
2 layer, and then modifying by amino groups, which interact with the GO nanosheets to form covalent bonding. The SiO
2 coating layer plays a key role in integrating the magnetic nanoparticles with the GO nanosheets. The effect of the amount of SiO
2 on the morphology, structure, adsorption, and regenerability of the composites was studied in detail. An appropriate SiO
2 layer can effectively induce the GO nanosheets to completely wrap the Fe
3O
4 NPs, forming a core-shell Fe
3O
4@SiO
2@GO composite where Fe
3O
4@SiO
2 NPs are firmly encapsulated by GO nanosheets. The optimized Fe
3O
4@SiO
2@GO sample exhibits a high saturated adsorption capacity of 253 mg·g
−1 Pb(II) cations from wastewater, and the adsorption process is well fitted by Langmuir adsorption model. Notably, the composite displays excellent regeneration, maintaining a ~90% adsorption capacity for five cycles, while other samples decrease their adsorption capacity rapidly. This work provides a theoretical guidance to improve the regeneration of the GO-based adsorbents.