Nanoarchitectonics of Orange Peel‐Mediated Reduced Graphene Oxide: A Green Fabrication Strategy for Efficient Cationic Dye Remediation

Effective treatment of organic dye‐contaminated water is of great importance, and graphene derivatives are excellent examples for decontamination due to their exceptional properties, especially the large surface area and chemical stability. The present study focused on the utilization of orange peel extract‐assisted reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as a promising adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye. To synthesize rGO from graphene oxide (GO), orange peel extract serves as a reducing agent, offering a cost‐effective, renewable, and environmentally friendly alternative. The green‐synthesized rGO was characterized using UV–vis, FTIR, EDX spectroscopy, TG analysis, XRD, and TEM. These comprehensive analyses confirmed the effective reduction of GO and the successful formation of few‐layered, exfoliated rGO nanosheets. The adsorption performance of the synthesized rGO for the removal of MB was assessed. The adsorption kinetics of MB on rGO can be best described by the pseudo‐second‐order kinetics model and the Langmuir model, which indicates that a chemisorption process governs the adsorption through a monolayer adsorption on the homogeneous surface of rGO. The maximum adsorption capacity is 82 mg/g, and the removal efficiency is 80%, which testifies to the suitability of the synthesized rGO as a promising adsorbent material.