Effects of pH and surface metal oxyhydroxides on deposition and transport of carboxyl-functionalized graphene in saturated porous media

This work investigated the effects of solution pH and surface metal oxyhydroxides on the transport behaviors of carboxyl-functionalized graphene (GR) in saturated porous media. Column experiments were conducted to elucidate the transport behavior of functionalized GR in acid-cleaned and natural sand under different solution pH conditions (i.e., 5.6 and 8.3). The results showed that the functionalized GR was highly mobile in the acid-cleaned sand columns at both pH 5.6 and 8.3 with recovery rates close to 100 %. The deposition of the functionalized GR was higher in the natural sand columns, and the recovery rates were 88.4 and 96.5 % for pH 5.6 and 8.3, respectively. The reductions of the mobility of the functionalized GR in the natural sand columns could be caused by the interaction between carboxyl functional groups of the GR and the surface metal hydroxides on the sand grains, which is pH dependent. An advection–dispersion-reaction model was applied to the data and successfully simulated the transport of the functionalized GR through the acid-cleaned and natural sand columns.