Effect of aniline on cadmium adsorption by sulfanilic acid-grafted magnetic graphene oxide sheets

[Display omitted] •MGOs/SA could be easily separated from reaction medium by a permanent magnet.•The presence of aniline affected the removal characteristic of Cd(II).•Precipitation curve was applied to the mechanism study of Cd(II) removal.•Increase of ionic strength resulted in a decrease of the Cd(II) adsorption.•The Cd(II) removal was a physicochemical process. Cd(II) has posed severe health risks worldwide. To remove this contaminant from aqueous solution, the sulfanilic acid-grafted magnetic graphene oxide sheets (MGOs/SA) were prepared and characterized. The mutual effects of Cd(II) and aniline adsorption on MGOs/SA were studied. The effects of operating parameters such as pH, ionic strength, contact time and temperature on the Cd(II) enrichment, as well as the adsorption kinetics and isotherm were also investigated. The results demonstrated that MGOs/SA could effectively remove Cd(II) and aniline from the aqueous solution and the two adsorption processes were strongly dependent on solution pH. The Cd(II) adsorption was reduced by the presence of aniline at pH5.4. The presence of Cd(II) diminished the adsorption capacity for aniline at pH7.8. The decontamination of Cd(II) by MGOs/SA was influenced by ionic strength. Besides, the adsorption process could be well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The intraparticle diffusion study revealed that the intraparticle diffusion was not the only rate-limiting step for the adsorption process. Moreover, the experimental data of isotherm followed the Freundlich isotherm model.