High efficiency and selective removal of Cu(II) via regulating the pore size of graphene oxide/montmorillonite composite aerogel.

Abstract In this study, based on the differences in the coordination configurations of various alkaline earth metal ions (Ca(Ⅱ) and Sr(Ⅱ)) and sodium alginate (SA), the aerogel is functionalized with controllable slit-shaped pores structure, contributing by nanosheet stacking impact of graphene oxide (GO) and montmorillonite (MMT), which is able to selectively remove plane hydrate copper ions in complex wastewater systems. Sr-G/M is endowed with denser slit-shaped pores and could achieve more efficient selective removal of Cu(Ⅱ), together with a best removal efficiency of 97.1%, proving by systematic adsorption tests. The selectivity tests show that Sr-G/M exhibits preferential adsorption for Cu(Ⅱ) with a distribution coefficient of 41.85 L g-1. Furthermore, Sr-G/M has excellent regeneration performance to be 86.4% after 8 recycles. Considering its cost-effectiveness, eco-friendliness, easy preparation and efficient selective removal performance, Sr-G/M holds great promise in selective removal of Cu(Ⅱ) from complex wastewater systems.