Potential of the magnetic hollow sphere nanocomposite (graphene oxide-gadolinium oxide) for arsenic removal from real field water and antimicrobial applications

Potential of the magnetic hollow-sphere nanocomposite, graphene oxide-gadolinium oxide (GO-Gd2O3) for arsenic (As) removal from real field water with developing a continuous operating system and antimicrobial activity were investigated. The characterization results suggest that the prepared GO-Gd2O3 is a hallow sphere wool-like nanocomposite having 50.91 m2 g-1 surface area. The sorption studies revealed that a high adsorption capacity (216.70 mg g-1) can be achieved using GO-Gd2O3 (0.1 g L-1) at a pH of 6.0, and temperature of 293 K. The main and novel observations from the loading of Gd2O3 are that the GO adsorption efficiency, adsorbent separation rate from aqueous solutions, and the stability of the composite have been altered. Thus, the developed material can overcome the separation and stability issues associated with the bare GO, and exhibits an enhanced adsorption capacity toward arsenic was higher or comparable with existing magnetic material. In addition, the developed adsorption method was well applied for real field water samples collected from the mining area of South Korea where the GO-Gd2O3 can reduce the quantity of arsenic under the maximum accepted concentration of arsenic considered fit for drinking water stipulated by environmental protection agencies. Furthermore, the GO-Gd2O3 nanocomposite shows a high bacterial photocatalytic inactivation and was comparable with other reports.