Novel self assembled magnetic Prussian blue graphene based aerogel for highly selective removal of radioactive cesium in water

Abstract

A novel self-assembled Magnetic Prussian Blue/Reduced Graphene Oxide (3D-MPBRGO) aerogel was prepared by an easy and cost effective process for elimination of radioactive Cesium from contaminated aqueous solution selectively. The 3D-MPBRGO displayed excellent adsorption capability of 3.64 mmol per g or (484.12 mg/g) for Cs (initial 50 mM cesium concentration, pH 7 and 30 °C) and quick separation from solution by applying magnetic field as compared to previously published results for graphene based adsorbents. This excellent removal efficiency of nanocomposite can be ascribed to enlarged adsorbent surface area (402.68 m2/g) and uniform distribution of nanoparticles on RGO which removes aggregation of sheets as well. The thermodynamic analysis displayed exothermic and spontaneous nature of Cs ion adsorption. The experimental data of adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir isotherm model than that of Tempkin and Freundlich while adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second order.