Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Aqueous Solution by Nano Graphene Oxide

Abstract

The study's objective is to produce and evaluate Nano Graphene Oxide (GO) before using it for batch adsorption to remove heavy metals (vanadium V+5, nickel Ni+2, and cadmium Cd+2) ions from aqueous solutions polluted with these metals, which were used to imitate the contaminating elements found in the liquid industrial wastewater of the Doura oil refinery in Baghdad, Iraq. This study used a modified Hummers method to synthesize. The main constituents in preparation GO were graphite powder (40-100 micron), H2SO4 acid, and KMnO4 powder. The GO structure synthesized and optical properties were investigated by FTIR, UV-vis, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and EDX. The effects of various parameters were investigated to obtain the most efficient removal of V+5, Ni+2, and Cd+2, where pH of the acidic function is 7–8. The agitation speed was 375 RPM, with 150 minutes of equilibrium time for all metal ions. The removal efficiency is inversely associated with the temperature, where the highest removal is at 20 °C and the lowest at 50 °C. For Cd+2 and Ni+2, the appropriate amount of GO was 0.5 g, while for V+5, it was 0.6 g.