Fabrication of macroporous polystyrene/graphene oxide composite monolith and its adsorption property for tetracycline

Macroporous polystyrene microsphere/graphene oxide (PS/GO) composite monolith was first prepared using Pickering emulsion droplets as the soft template. The Pickering emulsion was stabilized by PS/GO composite particles in-situ formed in an acidic water phase. With the evaporation of water and the oil phase (octane), the Pickering emulsion droplets agglomerated and combined with each other, forming a three-dimensional macroporous PS/GO composite matrix with excellent mechanical strength. The size of the macrospores ranged from 4 μm to 20 μm. The macroporous PS/GO composite monolith exhibited high adsorption capacity for tetracycline (TC) in an aqueous solution at pH 4–6. The maximum adsorption capacity reached 197.9 mg g−1 at pH 6. The adsorption behaviour of TC fitted well with the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This work offers a simple and efficient approach to fabricate macroporous GO-based monolith with high strength and adsorption ability for organic pollutants.

A macroporous polystyrene/graphene oxide composite monolith with high adsorption capability for tetracycline was fabricated via the aggregation of Pickering emulsion droplets stabilized by the PS/GO composite particles.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide