Adsorption of nitroaniline onto high surface area nanographene

High surface area nanographenes (HSANGs) were used for the adsorption and removal of p-nitroaniline from a model solution and wastewater sample. HSANGs were characterized using TEM, STM, and surface area analysis, and the results revealed that HSANGs exist as short stacks of transparent platelet-like graphene sheets with an average thickness of 2.0 nm and a BET specific surface area of 677.5 m(2) g(-1). The results showed that most of the NA was removed from the solution within a few minutes at ambient conditions. The adsorption was analyzed kinetically and the results showed the suitability of the pseudo-second-order model for describing the adsorption kinetics. The thermodynamics study showed that the adsorption process was exothermic in nature, product favored, and associated with an increase in entropy due to the adsorption of NA to the HSANGs surface. The HSANGs exhibited a tremendous adsorption ability to remove NA from a model solution and a wastewater sample. (C) 2015 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.