Porous three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide merged with WO3 for efficient removal of radioactive strontium

A simple hydrothermal method was used to prepare 3D nanostructured composite adsorbents of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and WO3 (RGO/WO3). The analysis results suggest that it possesses a mesoporous 3D structure, in which WO3 nanorods are uniformly loaded on the surface of the RGO. Combining the benefits of GO and WO3, the composites exhibit a higher adsorption capacity for removing Sr2+ from aqueous solutions over a wide pH range (4-11). Adsorption isotherms show that the data fit the Langmuir isotherms well (R > 0.99), and the maximum adsorption capacity of 149.56 mg g(-1) was achieved, much higher than that for GO, WO3 and other similar adsorbents. Sr2+ adsorption on RGO/WO3 reached equilibrium within 200 min. The fast adsorption and high adsorption rate of RGO/WO3 are mostly attributable to the plentiful adsorption sites provided by the dispersed WO3 nanoparticles on the RGO surface. Furthermore, the existence of Na+ ions has no obvious effect on the removal of Sr2+ ions by RGO/WO3, and RGO/WO3 adsorbent can be repeated at least 5 times without significant loss of adsorption capacity by adsorption-desorption experiment. Thus, RGO/WO3 shows the potential ability for removal of Sr-90 from radioactive wastewater. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.