Electrospun graphene oxide/carbon composite nanofibers with well-developed mesoporous structure and their adsorption performance for benzene and butanone

•Graphene oxide/carbon composite nanofibers with abundant mesopores were prepared.•Mesoporosity and surface oxygen content increased with GO addition increasing.•The composite nanofibers exhibited high benzene and butanone adsorption capacities.•GO embedment improved the adsorption tendency for butanone over benzene.

Freestanding porous carbon nanofibers have been interesting candidate for the adsorption and removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, novel graphene oxide (GO)/carbon composite nanofibers with well-developed mesoporous structure are prepared easily from polyacrylonitrile and different content of GO by electrospinning and subsequent steam activation, and their adsorption performance for VOC vapors is evaluated for the first time. The resultant nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Dramatically, embedment of GO achieves the increased mesopores and high surface oxygen content of series of continuous composite nanofibers, and further mesopore volume, ratio and oxygen content show positive dependence on the amount of GO addition. Owing to such outstanding features, the novel composite nanofibers exhibit improved benzene and butanone adsorption capacities at high relative pressures and enhanced adsorption tendency for butanone over benzene, compared to pristine activated carbon nanofiber and conventional activated carbon fiber. The highest benzene and butanone adsorption capacities of the prepared composite nanofibers at 20 °C and relative pressure of 0.98 reach 83.2 and 130.5 cm3 g−1, respectively. The introduction of GO simultaneously improves the adsorption capacities and adsorptive tendency of the nanofibers for polar VOCs. These results prove the great potential of composite nanofibers in practical adsorption for VOCs, especially polar ones.

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