Physical and chemical activation of reduced graphene oxide for enhanced adsorption and catalytic oxidation

Abstract

Physical and chemical activation of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) using different reagents, CO2, ZnCl2 and CO2/ZnCl2, to obtain highly porous and metal-free carbonaceous materials was carried out and their adsorption and catalytic behavior were investigated. Physical activation using CO2 was proved to be much more effective than chemical ZnCl2 activation, and increased the specific surface area (SSA) of RGO from ~200 to higher than 600 m2 g-1. Methylene blue (MB) was then used to evaluate the adsorption and catalytic activity of the activated RGO (A-RGO) materials with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) as an oxidant. It was found that the SSA and oxygen containing groups are two important factors determining the adsorptive and catalytic performance of the A-RGO materials. RGO by physicochemical CO2/ZnCl2 activation presented the best adsorption and RGO by physical CO2 activation exhibited the highest catalytic degradation of MB.