With the rapid development of modern industry, water pollution caused by leaks and spills of hazardous chemicals has aroused global environmental concern. Wastewater containing heavy metals, synthetic dyes, and aromatic organics will cause serious environment, health and safety problems. The adsorption method is one of the most economical, fast and effective water treatment methods. Traditional adsorbent materials such as activated carbon, kaolin, polypyrrole, etc., show high removal capacity for certain types of pollutant. However, there are some disadvantages such as low adsorption capacities, poor physical mechanical properties and less recoverability, which make adsorption technology facing enormous difficulties and challenges in the future. In recent years, the research boom of graphene has promoted the rapid development of adsorption materials. The superior performance of graphene has made graphene oxide/chitosan composite (GO/CS) one of the research hotspots, and GO/CS with large specific surface area and many active sites has shown great potential in terms of adsorption performance. Compared with traditional adsorption materials, GO/CS has better physical mechanical properties and chemical stability, and the adsorption effect can be improved by structural design like controlling the degree of oxidation of graphene, and modification and cross-linking of graphene oxide and chitosan. The increase in the degree of oxidation of graphene helps to improve the compatibility of graphene oxide with chitosan, as well as the electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding of it with the adsorbate. The increase in the degree of reduction is beneficial to enhance the π-π interaction; the modification of graphene oxide and chitosan can change the charge properties of the composite material surface, which is beneficial to the improvement of adsorption performance; cross-linking has a huge effect on improving the compatibility of graphene oxide and chitosan, to a certain extent, and enhances the interaction with target molecules or ions. Besides, the structure of GO/CS determines its stability, and the increase in the degree of reduction and cross-linking can help to reduce the swelling of GO/CS and improve the physical mechanical properties. This article briefly introduces the preparation method of GO/CS, and discusses the relationship between structure control and GO/CS adsorption performance. The influence of adsorption performance was discussed in detail in the aspect of controlling the oxidation degree of graphene, and modification and cross-linking of graphene oxide and chitosan. Furthermore, the swelling and physical mechanical properties of GO/CS were analyzed, and the opportunities and challenges faced in the field of water treatment were prospected. © 2022, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.
