Multifunctional Iron oxide embedded reduced graphene oxide as a versatile adsorbent candidate for effectual arsenic and dye removal

The removal of Arsenic from drinking water and dye from industrial wastewater using a single composite system is the aim of current work. We develop a composite of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and magnetite nanoparticles in 1:1 ratio named as IO@rGO. IO@rGO shows removal efficiency of Arsenic(V) up-to 96% for contact time 120 min at pH 7. For dye removal, we perform adsorption study of IO@rGO with three anionic dyes: Methyl Blue, Orange G (OG) and Alizarine Cyanine Green (AG). The removal efficiency for Methyl Blue at pH 7 is shown 91% in 11 min. Moreover, IO@rGO shows removal efficiency of OG up-to 71% at pH 3 for 90 min and for AG solution up-to 70% at pH 7 at 150 min following pseudo second order kinetics. Further being magnetic, after adsorption of Arsenic or Dye both adsorbent and adsorbate can be easily separated from solution by an external magnet. [Display omitted] •Development of Iron Oxide embedded reduced graphene oxide composite system, IO@rGO.•IO@rGO as an effectual adsorbent to remove Arsenic(V) from groundwater.•IO@rGO as an efficient adsorbent to remove three different anioinic dyes from the wastewater.•Highly efficient adsorbent behavior of IO@rGO as a multifunctional adsorbent.•Both the adsorbent and adsorbate cam be recovered using an external magnet.