Facile preparation of 3D regenerated cellulose/graphene oxide composite aerogel with high-efficiency adsorption towards methylene blue

Composite aerogels consisting of graphene oxide (GO) and regenerated cellulose (RCE) were prepared via a solution mixing-regeneration and freeze-drying process. The prepared RCE/GO composites aerogel exhibited 3D network thin-walled pore structure with large specific surface area, also favorable compression recovery capability, outstanding dye elimination efficiency and reusability after the addition of GO. With addition of only 0.5 wt% GO, the methylene blue (MB) elimination efficiency of RCE/GO aerogel reached 99.0% and still remained at 90.5% after five-time reused under oscillation adsorption. In addition, our research indicates that the excellent MB adsorption of RCE/GO composite aerogel was driven by electrostatic interactions and followed a pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic and monolayer Langmuir adsorption isotherm. This investigation provides the guidance for the development of green environmental adsorbents to remove organic dye from sewage water.