Synthesis and characterization of graphene oxide and chitosan hybrid structures

Graphene oxide (GO) is an important graphene derivative consisting of many covalently bound oxygens, such as hydroxyl, epoxy, carbonyl, and carboxyl groups. The presence of these groups implies that GO has strong hydrophilicity, polymer compatibility, and water dispersion to create a long, stable suspension. Chitosan is a typical biopolymer that can be used as biomass-based materials which are attractive due to their renewability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Graphene oxide-chitosan hybrid structures allow the production of value-added materials due to their low cost and high efficiency. In the scope of this thesis, graphene oxide and chitosan, and their hybrid materials were synthesized as adsorbents for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions. The obtained graphene oxide and chitosan were characterized by various techniques (FT-IR, XRD, TG, SEM-EDX, and BET surface area analysis). In order to determine the adsorption capabilities of the prepared structures, adsorption studies of two different acids (Acid Blue 260 and Acid Red 18) and three different basic dyes (Basic Blue 3, Basic Red 46 and Methylene Blue) that cause environmental pollution were carried out.