Novel multifunctional cheese-like 3D carbon-BN as a highly efficient adsorbent for water purification

In this paper, a novel three dimensional carbon boron nitride (3D C-BN) was successfully prepared. The obtained material has porous cheese-like structure and pore size ranging from 2 nm to 100 nm. Attractively, the 3D C-BN, which combines the adsorption advantages of BN and carbon together, exhibits excellent adsorption properties for organic dyes, oils and heavy metal ions. The maximum removal capacities of 3D C-BN for methyl blue (MB) and congo red (CR) are 408 mg g(−1) and 307 mg g(−1), respectively. Furthermore, 3D C-BN can quickly and efficiently remove oils (salad oil, gasoline and pump oil) and heavy metal ions (Cr(3+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+)) from waste water. The macro bulk 3D C-BN, which is more convenient to use than powdered materials, can be reused by burning or heating in air and still maintains high adsorption capacity. Significantly, these superior performances can find practical application in water purification.