Preparation of graphene oxide-cotton fiber composite adsorbent and its application for the purification of polyphenols from pomegranate peel extract

We discuss the synthesis of graphene oxide-cotton fiber composite adsorbent and its use for purification of polyphenols. Graphene oxide was grafted onto cotton fiber through amidation and epoxy ring-opening. Polyphenols have shown significant promise in various therapeutic applications. The current study examines the feasibility of purifying polyphenols from pomegranate peel extract (e.g. ellagic acid) by using graphene oxide-cotton fiber adsorbent. Using ultrapure water as binding phase and sodium hydroxide solution as eluting phase, 72% of the sugars and almost the entire amount of protein impurities present in the feed material could be removed. The ellagic acid concentration in the purified sample was 3.6 times of that in the feed solution while the total polyphenols concentration increased from 48% to 76%. The polyphenol binding capacity of the adsorbent was 51 mg/g while the overall recovery for polyphenols was approximately 73%.