Graphene from sugar and its application in water purification.
This paper describes a green method for the synthesis of graphenic material from cane sugar, a common disaccharide. A suitable methodology was introduced to immobilize this material on sand without the need of any binder, resulting in a composite, referred to as graphene sand composite (GSC). Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the material is indeed graphenic in nature, having G and D bands at 1597 and 1338 cm(-1), respectively. It effectively removes contaminants from water. Here, we use rhodamine 6G (R6G) as a model dye and chloropyrifos (CP) as a model pesticide to demonstrate this application. The spectroscopic and microscopic analyses coupled with adsorption experiments revealed that physical adsorption plays a dominant role in the adsorption process. Isotherm data in batch experiments show an adsorption capacity of 55 mg/g for R6G and 48 mg/g for CP, which are superior to that of activated carbon. The adsorbent can be easily regenerated using a suitable eluent. This quick and cost-effective technique for the into a commercial water filter with appropriate engineering.
DST Unit on Nanoscience, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India.
Soujit Sen
SS
Gupta
Theruvakkattil Sreenivasan
TS
Sreeprasad
Shihabudheen Mundampra
SM
Maliyekkal
Sarit Kumar
SK
Das
Thalappil
T
Pradeep
D000327:Adsorption; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D004187:Disaccharides / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010575:Pesticides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000379:methods; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*; D013464:Sulfuric Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
D002241:Carbohydrates; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004187:Disaccharides; D010575:Pesticides; D012235:Rhodamines; D013464:Sulfuric Acids; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C026188:rhodamine 6G; D014867:Water; D006108:Graphite; C033158:sulfuric acid