الفهرس 
Part oneOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The thesis describes the development of new graphene-based nanocomposite materials for applications in water desalination and water treatment. These materials have been designed, prepared, fully characterized and tested for either solar water desalination or for the removal of heavy metals from water. Overall, all the nanocomposites prepared and studied are novel and they exhibit excellent performances in their specific applications. The thesis consists of seven major chapters in addition the references section. Chapter 1 provides a good review of the current wastewater treatment and seawater desalination technologies. It also includes a literature survey on the application of plasmonic nanomaterials and graphene-based nanomaterials for wastewater treatment and solar water desalination. The chapter also includes a review of the most effective methods currently used for the removal of the heavy metal ions mercury(II), lead(II), chromium(VI), cupper(II), and aresenate(V) from water. Chapter 2 describes the preparation and application of a new generation of highly efficient, flexible, low weight, highly porous and cost effective Plasmonic Graphene Polyurethane (PGPU) nanocomposite materials for solar steam generation through the efficient evaporation of surface water pools. This work is very significant and is expected to have a strong impact on advancing the field of solar water desalination. Chapter 3 describes another innovation dealing with the laser synthesis of magnetite/partially reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (Mag-PRGO) for the efficient removal of aresenate(V) from water. Chapter 4 describes the preparation of three new graphene oxide-based materials for the removal of Hg(II) from wastewater. The new materials are carboxylated improved graphene oxide (IGO-COOH), aminated improved graphene oxide (IGO-NH2), and imino-diacetic acid improved graphene oxide (Imino-IGO). Chapter 5 reports the preparation of two new nanocomposites: polyacrylonitrile nanoparticles grafted on ethylene diamine functionalized partially reduced graphene oxide (PAN-PRGO) and its hydrolyzed form (HPAN-PRGO) for the efficient removal of heavy metal ions from polluted water. Chapter 6 describes the preparation of a novel chelating adsorbent based on the chemical modification of graphene oxide by amidinothiourea to form 2-imino-4-thiobiuret-partially reduced graphene oxide (IT-PRGO). This adsorbent records one of the highest adsorption capacities of Hg(II) from polluted water. Chapter 7 describes another innovation of this research dealing with the development of a highly sensitive and selective copper ion (Cu2+) fluorescence sensor based on the hematoporphyrin functionalized graphene oxide (HP-GO) nanosheets.