Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2016)
    Nanomaterials Wednesday Sessions
       Session NM-WeE

Paper NM-WeE7
Graphene-based Nanocomposite Hydrogels for Contaminant Removal

Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 7:40 pm, Room Hau

Session: Nanocomposites
Presenter: Nathalie Tufenkji, McGill University, Canada
Authors: N. Tufenkji, McGill University, Canada
N. Yousefi, McGill University, Canada
K. Wong, McGill University, Canada
A. Angulo, McGill University, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
Due to its exceptionally high specific surface area and abundance of surface functional groups, graphene oxide (GO) is of great interest as a high performance sorbent for dyes, heavy metal ions, oils, toxins and organic solvents from contaminated waters. However, recovery of GO after the water treatment process is difficult due to its high stability in water. Thus, self-assembly of GO sheets into porous 3D macrostructures such as hydrogels has been explored as a technique to exploit their high surface area while facilitating easy recovery from treated water. Nonetheless, creating mechanically robust hydrogels with acceptable adsorption capacities is not straightforward. We report a simple method for preparation of ultra-strong nanocomposite GO hydrogels at low pressure using vitamin C as a natural cross-linker. The structure and chemical compositions of the hydrogels are examined using microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. We demonstrate that hydrogels with high storage moduli can be used to effectively remove model dyes such as methylene blue, heavy metal ions and emerging contaminants such as the pharmaceutical products diclofenac and sulfamethoxazole from aqueous solutions. We will describe the novel aspects of the hydrogel synthesis that give rise to its exceptional mechanical strength and adsorption capacity.