Abstract: In this paper, sodium alginate/graphene oxide (SA/GO) composite aerogel was prepared from sodium alginate (SA) and graphene oxide (GO) as raw materials, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and gluconolactone (GDL) as crosslinking agents via solution blending and freeze-drying technology. The paper studied structural characterization and mechanical properties of the prepared aerogel and investigated their adsorption property on copper ions. The results showed that the aerogel was rich in stable three-dimensional mesh structure, and the compressive property was enhanced with the increase of graphene oxide content. When the GO content was 3%, the SA/GO composite aerogel has a good adsorption effect on copper ions. The adsorption performance was improved by 35.9% compared with that of sodium alginate aerogel and was in accordance with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model.

Key words: aerogel; graphene oxide; sodium alginate; heavy metal ion; adsorption