Preparation of a novel nano-Fe₃O₄/triethanolamine/GO composites to enhance Pb²⁺/Cu²⁺ ions removal

In this paper, a magnetic nano-Fe₃O₄/triethanolamine/GO composite (TEA-GO-FE) was prepared by using graphene oxide (GO), triethanolamine (TEA), and ferric chloride. The result indicates that triethanolamine acted as an important role for the growing of Fe₃O₄ and adsorption ability of composite material. The synthesis mechanism of TEA-GO-FE was investigated through the medium of SEM-EDS, XRD, FT-IR, and TEM. The characterization results indicated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles have been successfully loaded on the surface of graphene oxide and they were encapsulated by TEA and have excellent stability. According to the results of XRD, the general particle size of Fe₃O₄ on TEA-GO-FE was 27.5 nm. In order to understand the adsorption properties of TEA-GO-FE for Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺, this article uses a static adsorption study method. The optimized adsorption conditions are as follows: pH = 5.0, temperature is 293.15 K, and the ion concentration is 100 mg/L. Under the optimized prerequisites, the adsorption capacities of Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ were 121.5 mg/g and 68.7 mg/g, separately. Through thermodynamic as well as kinetic studies, the adsorption process of Pb²⁺ and Cu²⁺ on TEA-GO-FE is a self-heating process.