Fabrication, characterization and physical properties of a novel magnetite graphene oxide/Lauric acid nanoparticles modified by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and its applications as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) ions

• EDTA is loaded on Go/Fe3O4 by chemical coprecipitation method.
• The characterization of GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA using FT-IR, XRD, Raman, EDX, TGA, VSM, SEM, AFM and TEM.
• GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA nanoparticles were quickly separated from water after adsorption of Pb(II) ions.

Nanocomposite of magnetite graphene oxide/Lauric acid containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid nanoparticles (GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA) was synthesized in aqueous media by chemical co-precipitation method. Morphology, particle size, structure and physical properties of GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET). The effects of independent variables including pH of solution, concentration of Pb(II) ions, contact time and temperature were coded as x1, x2, x3 and x4 at five levels (−2, −1, 0, 1 and 2), in these calculations Y was considered as the response (the secondary concentration of Pb(II) ions in mg L−1).The optimum condition was achieved at secondary concentration of 120.18 mg L−1 at pH = 3, the initial concentration of 280 mg L−1,time of 105 min at 20 °C. In addition, GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA nanocomposite can be recovered easily using magnetic separation technology. The experimental equilibrium data was fitted well with the Freundlich model while adsorption kinetics had the highest consistency with the pseudo second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamics parameters including ΔGoΔGo, ΔSoΔSo and ΔHoΔHo showed that the adsorption reaction of Pb(II) onto GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA was spontaneous and endothermic in nature.

Multistep process of GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA nanocomposite preparation: (a) Formation of magnetite graphene oxide and (b) synthesis of nano GO/Fe3O4/LA/EDTA composite.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide