Porous graphene oxide-based carbon artefact with high capacity for methylene blue adsorption

A three-dimensional porous graphene oxide (PGO) material prepared by hydrothermal method was selected to adsorb methylene blue (MB), which demonstrates a high MB adsorption capacity, up to 1100 mg g−1 in alkaline solution at room temperature. The influences of different pore structures and different contents of oxygen-containing functional groups on MB adsorption behaviors were studied in detail, which indicated that the high MB adsorption capacity is mainly ascribed to the synergistic effect of the large number of oxygen-containing functional groups and the interconnected 3D porous network. Moreover, based on the investigation on the adsorption kinetics and the effect of pH value on MB adsorption, we propose a two-step adsorption kinetics for PGO, which involved in two interactions between MB molecular and porous graphene oxide-based carbon: electrostatic force and π-π stacking. Besides, the calculation of the activation energies indicates that chemisorption dominates the adsorption for PGO in comparison with physisorption for three-dimensional porous graphene materials which has low adsorption capacity because of the removal of functional groups. The results are of great significance for the design and environmental applications of PGO as a promising adsorbent material for water purification.