Graphene-supported iron-based composites: A review of applications to wastewater treatment

Abstract

Water environment has been deteriorating in the recent decades due to the rapid industrialization, population expansion and urbanization. Large volumes of wastewater contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants are discharged into the environment not only causing a serious danger to the human life but also threatening the eco-environment. It is thus of pivotal importance to remove these pollutants from wastewater. Graphene has been adopted for various applications due to a variety of excellent properties, such as large specific surface area, good solution-dispersibility and high mechanical strength. The large quantities of oxygen-containing functional groups of graphene can strengthen its adsorption capacity for contaminants. Iron-based materials exhibit special physical and chemical properties, which have been successfully adopted to a broad range of applications, including catalysis, biosensors, and removal of environmental pollutants. Graphene-supported ironbased composites have good magnetic properties so that they can be readily separated from water after the adsorption process. It is particularly important to study the pollutants removal processes; thus different kinetics and isotherm models were used to investigate these processes. This review is focused on the methodology for the synthesis and characterization of graphene-supported iron-based composites, and their applications in wastewater treatment.