A STUDY ON STRUCTURAL, SPECTRAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF POLYMER FUNCTIONALIZED GRAPHENE OXIDE – METAL OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITES FOR REMOVAL OF DYES FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract

Graphene is a two dimensional honeycomb arrangement of carbon atom that revolutionize our world in the field of technology. Graphene and its derivatives such as graphene oxides (GO) and reduced graphene oxides (rGO) are ideal platforms for constructing graphene-based nanostructures for various applications. Chitosan(CS) is a natural bio polysaccharide and the most abundant polymer. It has attracted considerable research interest due to its tremendous applications in agriculture, biopesticides etc. Manganese oxides are attractive inorganic materials owing to their low cost, high chemical stability, high electro chemical activity and eco friendly nature, which have a wide range of applications in super capacitors, heavy metal ion removal, dye removing etc. In this present work, graphene oxide is prepared from natural graphite flakes by modified hummers method and then graphene oxide /chitosan/MnO2 nanocomposites is synthesised via. chemical reduction method from the mixture of solution of GO, Chitosan and KMnO4. The structural and morphological properties of the prepared nanocomposites are investigated by X-Ray diffraction analysis and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The presence of functional groups in the synthesized nanocomposites are studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR).Energy dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDAX) is used to identify elemental composition of materials. The prepared nanocomposites are used for dye removing application. The adsorption properties of graphene oxide /chitosan /MnO2 towards industrial dyes are investigated along with measured effect of adsorption by initial concentration, contact time and pH values. The resulting adsorption isotherm is analyzed systematically. These nanocomposites are found to be more efficient adsorbent for the removal of anionic industrial dyes.