Acetaminophen Adsorption Properties Using Graphene-Triazine Bilayer Composites

Abstract

Acetaminophen (AMP), known as paracetamol, is widely used as an antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory, being one of the most common pharmaceuticals found in different surface water environments (Gatrouni et al., 2024). It is frequently detected in aquatic environments and poses potential risks to human health, aquatic ecosystem and natural environment. Among removal technologies for AMP, adsorption is most promising method widely utilized to remove different organic and inorganic contaminants from aqueous solutions due to its simplicity, efficiency, and low cost (Arabkhani et al., 2025). In this work, the adsorption capacity of newly synthesized graphene-triazine bilayer nanocomposites was investigated for the removal of acetaminophen. The composites were synthesized via ultrasonication, chemical and hydrothermal methods: 1,3,5-triazine (TZN), trichloro triazine (TCT), and 2,4,6-tris (trifluoromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TTF) were embedded in graphene to form a noncovalently functionalized two-layered complex. Among the synthesized graphene-triazine nanocomposites, the TTF-functionalized composites with the hydrothermal method exhibited the highest AMP adsorption performance (28.3 mg/g) due to the strong electron-withdrawing and hydrophobic effects of the trifluoromethyl groups, which enhance π–π stacking and electrostatic interactions induced by the conjugated-π and sigma inductive effects, which results in the strong AMP adsorption onto the composite surface.