Fluoride and lead adsorption on carbon nanotubes

The properties and applications of CNT have been studied extensively since Iijima discovered them in 1991[1,2]. They have exceptional mechanical properties and unique electrical property, highly chemical stability and large specific surface area. Thus far, they have widely potential applications in many fields. They can be used as reinforcing materials in composites[3], field emissions[4], hydrogen storage[5], nanoelectronic components[6], catalyst supports[7], adsorption material and so on. However, the study on the potential application of CNT, environmental protection field in particular, was hardly begun.Long[8] et al. reported that CNT had a significantly higher dioxin removal efficiency than that of activated carbon. The Langmuir adsorption constant is 2.7 × 1052, 1.3 × 1018 respectively. The results indicated that CNT is potential candidate for the removal of micro-organic pollutants. However, the reports on the CNT used as fluoride and heavy metal adsorbent are seldom.In this paper, A novel material, alumina supported on carbon nanotubes (Al2O3/CNT), was prepared from carbon nanotubes and Al(NO3)3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra demonstrate that alumina is amorphous, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show that CNT and alumina are homogeneously mixed. Furthermore, the fluoride adsorption behavior on the surface of Al2O3/CNT has been investigated and compared with other adsorbents. The results indicate that Al2O3/CNT has a high adsorption capacity, with a saturation adsorption capacity of 39.4 mg/g. It is also found that the adsorption capacity of Al2O3/CNT is 3.0～4.5 times that of γ-Al2O3while almost equal to that of IRA-410 polymeric resin at 25 ℃. The adsorption isotherms of fluoride on Al2O3/CNT is fit the Freundlich equation well, optimal pH ranging from 5.0 to 9.0.Also in this paper, a novel material, modified carbon nanotubes (CNT), was prepared from carbon nanotubes and HNO3 under boiling condition. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) demonstrates that hydroxyl (-OH) and carbonyl (-C=O) functional groups are introduced to the surface of modified carbon nanotubes. Micrometrics ASAP 2000 measure that the surface area of modified CNT was slightly increased. Furthermore, the Pb2+ adsorption behavior on the surface of modified CNT has been investigated. The results indicate that the modified CNT has an exceptional adsorption capability for Pb2+ removal. The adsorption isotherms are well described by Langmuir equation under test temperatures and the kinetics level is three.