Ionic liquids modified graphene oxide composites: a high efficient adsorbent for phthalates from aqueous solution

In 2015, more than 30% of erasers were found to contain a PAE content that exceeded the 0.1% limit established by the Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau of Jiangsu Province in China. Thus, strengthening the supervision and regulation of the PAE content in foods and supplies, in particular, remains necessary. Graphene oxide (GO) and its composites have drawn great interests as promising adsorbents for polar and nonpolar compounds. However, GO-based adsorbents are typically restricted by the difficult separation after treatment because of the high pressure in filtration and low density in centrifugation. Herein, a series of novel ionic liquids modified graphene oxide composites (GO-ILs) were prepared as adsorbents for phthalates (PAEs) in eraser samples, which overcame the conventional drawbacks. These novel composites have a combination of the high surface area of graphene oxide and the tunability of the ionic liquids. It is expected that the GO-ILs composites can be used as efficient adsorbents for PAEs from aqueous solution. This work also demonstrated a new technique for GO-based materials applied in sample preparation.