Novel Graphene Oxide–Confined Nanospace Directed Synthesis of Glucose-Based Porous Carbon Nanosheets with Enhanced Adsorption Performance

Glucose-based porous carbon nanosheets (GPCNS) were synthesized by an integrated graphene oxide–confined nanospace directed KOH-activated process and were applied as adsorbent for efficient removal of sulfamethazine (SMZ). The effects of GO dosage on the structure, specific surface area, and adsorption capacity of GPCNS-<i>x</i> were investigated. The highest SMZ uptake of 820.27 mg g^–1 (298 K) was achieved in glucose-based porous carbon nanosheets inherited from using 1% GO relative to glucose (GPCNS-1). Also, the adsorption isotherms, thermodynamics, and kinetics of SMZ onto GPCNS-1 were studied in detail. In addition, the effects of ionic strength and solution pH on the adsorption capacity of GPCNS-1 were also investigated, indicating good environmental tolerance of GPCNS-1. Furthermore, regeneration experiments showed that GPCNS-1 has good reproducibility and durability. We believe that these graphene oxide–confined nanospace directed KOH-activated process biomass-based carbon nanosheets are highly promising as absorbents in the field of environmental protection