17th International Fiber and Polymer Research Symposium

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Electrospun Reduced Graphene Oxide Zinc Oxide Nanofibers for Uranium (VI) Adsorption

Authors :

Ikbal Gozde Kaptanoglu¹ Sabriye Yusan² Umit H. Kaynar³ Sule Aytas⁴ Sema Erenturk⁵

1- Ege University 2- Ege University 3- Bakırçay University 4- Ege University 5- Istanbul Technical University

Keywords :

Adsorption،reduced graphene oxide،zinc oxide،response surface methodology،uranium(VI)

Abstract :

The presence of pollutants like radionuclides in water resources poses a significant threat to the environment and living organisms. Consequently, the removal of these contaminants from wastewater and environmental water has gained increasing attention in recent years, leading to intensive research into various methods. Among these, adsorption is a practical and cost-effective technology widely used for removing heavy metals from wastewater. Recent studies highlight the synthesis of nanostructures with unique properties for diverse water purification applications. Nanostructures, such as nanofibers, nanowires, and nanorods, can be produced using methods like chemical vapor deposition, hydrothermal synthesis, electrochemical deposition, and electrospinning. Among these techniques, electrospinning is particularly notable for its economical, easily controllable, and effective production of composite nanofibers. In this study, we synthesized reduced graphene oxide zinc oxide (rGO-ZnO) nanofibers and investigated their potential as an adsorbent for uranium (U(VI)) removal from aqueous solutions. The synthesized materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. To optimize the adsorption capacity, we employed response surface methodology, a widely used technique in industrial research for modelling adsorption behaviour. We tested various parameters, including pH (3–7), temperature (20–60°C), uranium(VI) concentration (25–125 mg/L), and adsorbent dosage (0.0025–0.04 g). The optimal combination of these factors was determined using central composite design, which revealed a second order (quadratic) model with R2 and adjusted R2 values of 0.9145 and 0.8362, respectively. Under these theoretically optimal conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity of the rGO-ZnO fiber composite was found to be 175.4 mg/g.