Fabrication of composite biofibres based on chitosan and fluorinated graphene for adsorption of heavy metal ions in water

In the study, a fast, environment-friendly and facile method has been developed to prepare of composite fibres (UFG-CS) based on fluorinated graphene and chitosan (CS). The composition and morphology of these composite fibres are investigated by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermo-gravimetric analysis. Meanwhile, the as-prepared composite fibres exhibit excellent flexibility and mechanical properties. And the greatest fracture strength about 294.8 MPa can be founded for the composite fibres with weight ratio of UFG and CS at 3:1. The as-prepared UFG-CS composite fibres show good biocompatibility in vitro and antibacterial against E. Coli. In addition, the as-prepared composite fibres show good absorption performance for Ni2+, Cd2+ and Cu2+ ions from aqueous solutions, showing a potential application for the removal of heavy metal ions from polluted water.