title: Ultrafast adsorption and selective desorption of aqueous aromatic dyes by graphene sheets modified by graphene quantum dots.
abstract: Graphene modified by graphene quantum dots (GQDs) has been employed to remove toxic organic dyes. An excellent removal capacity (497 mg g(-1)) and record-breaking adsorption rate (475 mg g(-1) min(-1) at 20 °C) were demonstrated for Rhodamine B. The enhancement in performance by nearly a factor of three compared to that of graphene was ascribed to the greatly increased accessible surface area of graphene in aqueous solution as well as the increase in surface charges with the modification with GQDs. Besides, this unique adsorption behavior of the modified graphene was expanded to other typical toxic aqueous aromatic dyes such as Evans Blue, Methyl Orange, Malachite Green and Rose Bengal. What is more, a unique desorption behavior of dyes was first observed when employing different solvents, which enabled the GQD-modified graphene to be exploited for selective extraction of dyes and recycling of the adsorbent. The adsorption and desorption mechanism were further investigated. Combining high removal capacity, rapid adsorption kinetics, good recyclability and unique selective desorption, GQD-modified graphene has potential applications in both water purification and separation of aromatic dyes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China. State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Guqiao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Xinsheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng