Tailoring the Adsorption and Antibacterial Bifunctions of Newly Constructed Porous Alginate–Chitosan–Graphene Oxide Nanosheets Gel Beads

Abstract

Organic dye molecules and pathogenic microorganisms exist widely in printing and dyeing wastewater, causing persisting concerns about water environment safety. Herein, newly developed alginate–chitosan–graphene oxide nanosheets gel beads with both exceptional adsorption and antibacterial functions are reported. NaHCO3 is selected as porogen and Ag+ is used as antibacterial enhancer. The adsorption properties of the beads fit well with the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo‐second‐order model, suggesting a monolayer behavior of the adsorption and their reaction rate is controlled by chemisorption. The theoretical liminal value of the adsorption of methylene blue by the beads reaches 847.46 mg g−1. After five adsorption–desorption cycles, the beads retain almost intact adsorption activity, and the sterilization rates of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus remain at 99.99%. The results give insight into developing new processing routes for constructing gel beads for versatile applications.