Preparation and adsorption properties of enhanced magnetic zinc ferrite-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites via a facile one-pot solvothermal method

• ZF-rGO nanocomposites were successfully prepared by one-pot solvothermal method.
• Magnetic properties of ZF-rGO were enhanced by substituting Fe2+ for a part of Zn2+.
• The composites ZF-rGO show good adsorption properties for MB removal.
• Effective, rapid and easy magnetic separation property.

The wide application of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in water treatment is mainly suffered from high cost and difficult reusage. To addressing these issues, a series of zinc ferrite-reduced graphene oxide (ZF-rGO) nanocomposites with enhanced magnetic properties were successfully prepared using graphene oxide (GO), Fe3+, Zn2+ and ethylene glycol (EG) via a one-pot solvothermal method and the adsorption property was evaluated by the adsorption amount of methylene blue (MB) solution on the samples. The results indicate the as-prepared materials possess good adsorption and cycling properties for MB molecules. The dominated reason is mainly ascribed to the π-π stacking between dye molecules and rGO. Simultaneously, the adsorption kinetic behavior of MB molecules is also discussed and follows pseudo-second-order kinetic very well. Particularly, the introduction of Fe2+ enhances the magnetic property of ZF component in ZF-rGO composite by the reducing action of EG, which ensures the outstanding magnetic separability of the ZF-rGO materials as the adsorbent. Thus, the as-prepared nanocomposite material can be a potential excellent absorbent for removing dye pollutants.