Macroscopic and Spectroscopic Investigations of the Adsorption of Nitroaromatic Compounds on Graphene Oxide, Reduced Graphene Oxide, and Graphene Nanosheets

The surface properties and adsorption mechanisms of graphene materials are important for potential environmental applications. The adsorption of m-dinitrobenzene, nitrobenzene, and p-nitrotoluene onto graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (RGO), and graphene (G) nanosheets was investigated using IR spectroscopy to probe the molecular interactions of graphene materials with nitroaromatic compounds (NACs). The hydrophilic GO displayed the weakest adsorption capability. The adsorption of RGO and G was significantly increased due to the recovery of hydrophobic π-conjugation carbon atoms as active sites. RGO nanosheets, which had more defect sites than did GO or G nanosheets, resulted in the highest adsorption of NACs which was 10–50 times greater than the reported adsorption of carbon nanotubes. Superior adsorption was dominated by various interaction modes including π–π electron donor–acceptor interactions between the π-electron-deficient phenyls of the NACs and the π-electron-rich matrix of the graphene nanosheets, and the charge electrostatic and polar interactions between the defect sites of graphene nanosheets and the −NO2 of the NAC. The charge transfer was initially proved by FTIR that a blue shift of asymmetric −NO2 stretching was observed with a concomitant red shift of symmetric −NO2 stretching after m-dinitrobenzene was adsorbed. The multiple interaction mechanisms of the adsorption of NAC molecule onto flat graphene nanosheets favor the adsorption, detection, and transformation of explosives.