Removal of methylene blue dyes using graphene oxide-intercalated bentonite composites

Reduction of methylene blue levels has been carried out using the adsorption method with Bentonite-GO adsorbent. Adsorption is used because it has advantages at a low cost and is easy to modify. Bentonite is modified using GO because it has properties that are suitable for reducing dye waste. Bentonite-GO was characterized using XRD, SEM-EDS, and BET. Based on the XRD characterization results, GO is obtained with peaks at an angle of 10.57o, and in bentonite there are several peaks, namely 22.10°; 28,1°; and 35,63°. For bentonite/GO composites, it is best found at a 1:3 ratio with a peak of 25.61°. SEM-EDS is used to determine morphological changes of bentonite and after composite with GO. In the Bentonite-GO composite, it can be seen where in the pores of bentonite there is GO that fills the gap in bentonite which has a porous structure. Based on the EDS results on the Bentonite-GO composite, there was also a very large increase in carbon atoms. In BET, the surface area of the Bentonite-GO composite was 91.5059 m2/g and the pore volume was 0.1997 cm3/g. Methylene reduction obtained the best adsorption capacity at 60 minutes contact time with a percentage of 89.83% and a Qe value of 9.5 mg/g and a maximum composite concentration at a concentration of 35 mg/L with a percentage of 97.83 and a Qe value of 10.272 mg/g.