Bioassembly of fungal hypha/graphene oxide aerogel as high performance adsorbents for U(VI) removal

The highly efficient separation of radionuclides by the adsorbent with favorable ability is a compelling need with the development of the nuclear industry. In this paper, we chose fungus hypha as the skeleton, coated with a layer of two-dimensional graphene oxide sheets, and pyrolyzed as a fungal hyphae/graphene oxide aerogel for the application in uranium ions (U(VI)) removal. The macroscopically light fungus hypha and the reduced graphene oxide aerogel had a three-dimensional structure with an excellent capability on U(VI) removal (288.42 mg/g), attributed to its large specific surface area (894 m2/g) and abundant functional groups. In addition, the material also had a good recyclability through filtration and freeze-drying, respectively. We expected that the low cost and environmental-friendly aerogel would give some dominance in the field of the environment.