Graphene oxide functionalized with N-methyl-d-glucamine as a novel sorbent for boron removal from produced and formation waters

Abstract

This work describes the synthesis of a novel material based on graphene oxide (GO) for the selective removal of boron in an aqueous medium. The material was obtained by functionalizing graphene oxide with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG). This material, named NMDG@GO, was successfully characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, atomic force microscopy, and elemental analysis. The adsorption process was studied from a kinetic perspective using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models, with the pseudo-second-order model presenting a better fit. The adsorption process was studied using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, with the Freundlich model providing a better fit and an r² value of 0.9368. This result indicates that the adsorption process occurred in multilayers, considering a heterogeneous distribution of adsorption sites. The levels of the factor's adsorbent mass, pH, and time were optimized using a central composite design, with the optimal values achieved at 120 mg of material, pH = 2.0, and an agitation time of 40 min. Under these optimized conditions, it was possible to remove 22 to 35% of the boron present in saline waters from oil production (production and formation waters) using the developed adsorbent.