Batch mode and continuous flow adsorption of hydrocarbon pollutants from refinery wastewater using graphene oxide derived from fish scales

Abstract

The synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) from fish scales and its application for the adsorptive removal of organic contaminants from refinery wastewater is described in this article. XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDX analyses were used to characterize the synthesized material. The GO produced was consistent with the XRD analysis. The SEM study revealed a rough, porous and layered morphology, and these textures of big caverns are similar to that of two-dimensional sheets of GO. FTIR analysis identified the oxygen-containing groups. The adsorbents used in batch mode studies obtained 93% maximum adsorption of organic pollutants at 45 °C in 90 min with 175 mg per 30 mL of adsorbent dose. The adsorption process was exothermic, spontaneous, and followed a pseudo-2nd order kinetic model. The adsorbent maintained high efficiency over the course of 7 cycles without noticeably losing its activity. The adsorbent was washed with ethanol and dried for reuse at 200 °C. Freundlich and Langmuir kinetic models were applied to the adsorption data to analyze the adsorption behavior, and the results showed good agreement with the actual data and followed the Langmuir isotherm model. The purpose of the current study was to examine the removal of organic contaminants from refinery effluent using GO derived from fish scales. This study gives a highly effective, practical, and cheap strategy for removing hydrocarbon pollutants from refinery wastewater.