Facile and highly efficient fabrication of graphene oxide-based polymer nanocomposites through mussel-inspired chemistry and their environmental pollutant removal application

Graphene oxide (GO)-based polymer nanocomposites were fabricated in aqueous solution via a novel strategy combination of mussel-inspired chemistry and Michael addition reaction. These GO-based polymer nanocomposites were used as efficient absorbents for the removal of organic dyes methylene blue (MB) from the aqueous solution. The successful preparation of GO-based polymer nanocomposites (GO-PDA-PSPSH) was confirmed by a number of characterization techniques in detail. Furthermore, a series of influential factors such as contact time, initial solution pH, and temperature were investigated and optimized. The optimal adsorption time of GO-PDA-PSPSH nanocomposites toward MB was 58 min. The maximum adsorption efficiency was occurred at pH 7. On the other hand, accompanying with the elevation of temperature, removal efficiency of GO-PDA-PSPSH nanocomposites was significantly increased, indicating that the adsorption process of MB by GO-PDA-PSPSH nanocomposites was endothermic. More importantly, the adsorption capability of GO-PDA-PSPSH nanocomposites was obviously greater than many other GO-based nanocomposites. Taken together, we have developed a facile biomimetic strategy for the preparation of GO-based polymer nanocomposites, which showed excellent adsorption capability toward MB and are promising for environmental adsorption applications.