Encapsulation of Silica Nanotubes from Elephant Grass with Graphene Oxide/Reduced Graphene Oxide and Its Application in Remediation of Sulfamethoxazole from Aqueous Media

Incorporation of graphene/graphene oxide on a low-cost support has been established to improve adsorption performance. This study reports the synthesis of silica nanotubes (SNT) from elephant grass, its encapsulation by reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/graphene oxide (GO) and its application as a highly efficient adsorbent for the remediation of sulfamethoxazole from wastewater. The SNT was synthesized and encapsulated with GO and RGO, to obtain silica nanotubes graphene oxide (SNTGO) and silica nanotubes reduced graphene oxide (SNTG), respectively. The adsorbents were characterized with FTIR, CHN elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, XRD, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The FTIR, elemental analysis, and XRD results confirmed successful synthesis of the materials. SNTGO had an adsorption capacity of 125 mg/g, which increased to 248 mg/g when it was reduced to SNTG in the adsorption of sulfamethoxazole. The pseudo-second-order model best described th...