Abstract

In this article, a rhamnolipid-functionalized graphene oxide (RL-GO) hybrid was prepared by one-step ultrasonication and adsorptive removal of methylene blue (MB) from both artificial and real wastewater by the RL-GO was investigated. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) area and Zeta potential analysis were used to characterize the adsorbent. The results showed that RL-GO had abundant functional groups and a mesopores feature. MB adsorption by the RL-GO increased with increase in adsorbent dose, pH, temperature and initial MB concentration, while it was insensitive to ionic strength variation. The adsorption kinetics fitted well to the pseudo-second-order model with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The Intra-particle diffusion and Boyd's film-diffusion models showed that the rate-controlled step was dominated by film-diffusion in the beginning and then followed by intra-particle diffusion. The adsorption isotherm was fitted by adsorption models with the suitability in order of BET > Freundlich > Langmuir > Temkin, based on comparison between correlation coefficients. Thermodynamic analysis of equilibriums suggested that the adsorption MB on RL-GO was spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorption mechanism was also proposed to be electrostatic attraction, π–π interaction and hydrogen bond. In addition, the real wastewater experiment, the regeneration study and the comparative cost analysis showed that the RL-GO composites could be a cost-effective and promising sorbent for MB wastewater treatment owing to its high efficiency and excellent reusability.