In the present study, a hydrothermal process was used to fabricate boron-doped reduced graphene oxide (B-rGO) as an adsorbent for the degradation study of Rhodamine B dye. Instrumental analyses such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were performed to characterise the fabricated adsorbent. The characterisation results validated the effective integration of boron into the graphene oxide framework, hence improving the surface characteristics and adsorption capability with an average particle size of 24 nm. Further, batch adsorption studies were conducted by varying various process parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, time, and dye concentration. The experiments show 70 percent removal of Rh B at an optimised condition pH 6, adsorbent dose 40 mg/L, contact time 90 min, and dye concentration 10 ppm. Kinetic and isotherm models were fitted to understand the mechanism of the adsorption study. The results show better fitting for the second-order reaction and the Langmuir isotherm model. The findings indicate that B-rGO is a viable material for environmental applications, particularly in wastewater. The research highlights the significance of boron doping in the adsorption properties and stability of reduced graphene oxide.

Keywords

Hydrothermal, Rhodamine B, Boron, Reduced graphene oxide, Adsorption