New effective 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane functionalized magnetic sporopollenin-based silica coated graphene oxide adsorbent for removal of Pb(II) from aqueous environment.

A new effective adsorbent, 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane functionalized magnetic sporopollenin (MSp@SiONH) based silica-coated graphene oxide (GO), (GO@SiO-MSp@SiONH) was successfully synthesized and applied for the first time in the removal of hazardous Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. The properties of the composite were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and vibrating-sample magnetometery (VSM). Evaluation of GO@SiO-MSp@SiONH adsorption performance at optimum conditions revealed that the adsorbent has a maximum adsorption capacity of 323.