Synthesis of Magnetic graphene Oxide/Soluble egg protein (GO-SEP/Fe3O4) Nanocomposite and its application in removal of heavy metals from water

Removal of toxic heavy metals from water samples is an important environmental challenge[1-2]. In this work GO-SEP/Fe3O4 is used as a bio-sorbent for the removal of Hg2+, Pb2+, Cd2+ and Sb2+ from water. The effects of contact time, pH, Temperature, initial metal concentration, and amount of adsorbent on the adsorption process were studied. The time required for the removal of metal ions was about two hour. Effective removal of metal ions was demonstrated at pH values of 4-8. The maximum adsorption capacities of Hg– GO-SEP/Fe3O4, Pb- GO-SEP/Fe3O4, Sb- GO-SEP/Fe3O4 and Cd- GO-SEP/Fe3O4 were 8.77 mmol g-1, 12.20 mmol g-1, 25.10 mmol g-1 and 4.05 mmol g-1, respectively. Metal adsorption onto GO-SEP/Fe3O4 was evaluated by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Results indicate that the Langmuir isotherm model is the most suitable one for the adsorption process using water.