Study on Preparation of Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol Aerogel with Graphene−Intercalated Attapulgite(GO−ATP@CS−PVA) and Adsorption Properties of Crystal Violet Dye

Abstract

Adsorption is one of the effective methods of treating dye wastewater. However, the selection of suitable adsorbent materials is the key to treating dye wastewater. In this paper, GO−ATP was prepared by an intercalation method by inserting graphene oxide (GO) into the interlayer of alabaster attapulgite (ATP), and GO−ATP@CS−PVA aerogel was prepared by co−blending−crosslinking with chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for the adsorption and removal of crystalline violet dye from the solution. The physicochemical properties of the materials are characterized by various methods. The results showed that the layer spacing of the GO−ATP increased from 1.063 nm to 1.185 nm for the ATP, and the specific surface area was 187.65 m2·g−1, which was 45.7% greater than that of the ATP. The FTIR results further confirmed the success of the GO−ATP intercalation modification. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results show that the aerogel has good thermal stability properties. The results of static adsorption experiments show that at 302 K and pH 9.0, the adsorption capacity of the GO−ATP@CS−PVA aerogel is 136.06 mg·g−1. The mass of the aerogel after adsorption−solution equilibrium is 11.4 times that of the initial mass, with excellent adsorption capacity. The quasi−secondary kinetic, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherm models can better describe the adsorption process of the aerogel. The biobased composite aerogel GO−ATP@CS−PVA has good swelling properties, a large specific surface area, easy collection and a low preparation cost. The good network structure gives it unique resilience. The incorporation of clay as a nano−filler can also improve the mechanical properties of the composite aerogel.