Graphene oxide-terminated hyperbranched amino polymer-carboxymethyl cellulose ternary nanocomposite for efficient removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions.

A high-efficiency graphene oxide-terminated hyperbranched amino polymer-carboxymethyl cellulose ternary nanocomposite (GO-HBP-NH-CMC) was fabricated for adsorbing heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The adsorbent was characterized by SEM, FT-IR, Raman, and XPS analyses showing its porous architecture, rough surface, abundant N- and O-containing functional groups providing enhanced binding ability towards Pb and Cu. Experimental adsorption data fitted well to the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models, indicating the adsorption of GO-HBP-NH-CMC towards Pb and Cu being a chemical and monolayer process.