title: Engineered graphite oxide materials for application in water purification.
abstract: Retaining the inherent hydrophilic character of GO (graphite-oxide) nanosheets, sp(2) domains on GO are covalently modified with thiol groups by diazonium chemistry. The surface modified GO adsorbs 6-fold higher concentration of aqueous mercuric ions than the unmodified GO. "Core-shell" adsorbent granules, readily useable in filtration columns, are synthesized by assembling aqueous GO over sand granules. The nanostructured GO-coated sand retains at least 5-fold higher concentration of heavy metal and organic dye than pure sand. The research results could open avenues for developing low-cost water purification materials for the developing economies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX-77005, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Mainak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.forename: Lawrence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Alemany
authors.forename: Tharangattu N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ibarra
authors.forename: Bhabendra K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.forename: Pulickel M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ajayan
mesh_terms: D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D006108:Graphite