Removal of Reactive Red120 from Aqueous Solutions by Graphene Oxide/Zirconium Oxide Nanocomposites

Agraphene oxide/zirconium oxide (GO/ZrO2) nanocomposite was developed and evaluated for the efficient removal of Reactive Red120 (RR120) dye. The charac terization of the GO/ZrO2 nanocomposite was carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used as a statistical optimization to evaluate the effects of adsorption parameters, including adsorbent concentration, RR120 amount, and removal time. The study describes the GO/ZrO2 nanocomposite adsorbent, which has a potential application in the treatment of anionic dye-contaminated water.