title: Preparation and characterization of a novel graphene/biochar composite for aqueous phenanthrene and mercury removal.
abstract: A graphene/biochar composite (G/BC) was synthesized via slow pyrolysis of graphene (G) pretreated wheat straw, and tested for the sorption characteristics and mechanisms of representative aqueous contaminants (phenanthrene and mercury). Structure and morphology analysis showed that G was coated on the surface of biochar (BC) mainly through π-π interactions, resulting in a larger surface area, more functional groups, greater thermal stability, and higher removal efficiency of phenanthrene and mercury compared to BC. Pseudo second-order model adequately simulated sorption kinetics, and sorption isotherms of phenanthrene and mercury were simulated well by dual-mode and BET models, respectively. FTIR and SEM analysis suggested that partitioning and surface sorption were dominant mechanisms for phenanthrene sorption, and that surface complexation between mercury and C-O, CC, -OH, and OC-O functional groups was responsible for mercury removal. The results suggested that the G/BC composite is an efficient, economic, and environmentally friendly multifunctional adsorbent for environmental remediation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Engineering Center of Environmental Diagnosis and Contamination Remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Jingchun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Engineering Center of Environmental Diagnosis and Contamination Remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Honghong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Engineering Center of Environmental Diagnosis and Contamination Remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: yanyangong@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Engineering Center of Environmental Diagnosis and Contamination Remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002606:Charcoal; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D006108:Graphite; D007700:Kinetics; D008628:Mercury / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014908:Triticum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D010616:Phenanthrenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C540010:biochar; D002606:Charcoal; C031181:phenanthrene; D006108:Graphite; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Biochar; Graphene; Mercury; Phenanthrene; Sorption