Graphite Oxide Nanocomposites for Air Stream Desulfurization

Abstract

Abstract Graphene oxide, a monolayer structure with a high contribution of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms and various oxygen-containing surface functional groups, has attracted the attention of a worldwide research community in the last decades due to its various potential applications linked to the unique combination of properties, such as hardness, physical and chemical stability, high specific surface area, electron mobility, and heat transfer. Nanocomposites based on graphene and more often on graphene oxide (GO) have been widely studied and were found to have marked remediation capabilities. The latter were based on adsorption of various toxic and hazardous compounds, such as toxic industrial compounds (TICs) and chemical warfare agents (CWAs) from air, or metals and dyes from waste waters. Among different strategies for the synthesis of GO-based nano-adsorbents, the use of exfoliated GO as a filler in a small quantity is a promising approach. In this chapter, we summarize the recent findings on the enhancing effects of a GO incorporation into various metal (hydr)oxide-based adsorbents on the desulfurization of air streams. Special attention was placed on the dependence of H2S retention on the structural, morphological, and surface chemistry features, which were altered by the addition of the GO phase. The latter has brought about important synergistic features promoting surface reactivity with H2S. The mechanisms of the hydrogen sulfide reactive adsorption on various active phases and on their nanocomposites with GO are also addressed.