The etching effect of ammonia (NH3) on the growth of vertically aligned nanotubes/nanofibers (CNTs) was investigated by direct-current plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (DC-PECVD). NH3 gas etches Ni catalyst layer to form nanoscale islands while NH3 plasma etches the deposited amorphous carbon. Based on the etching effect of NH3 gas on Ni catalyst, the differences of growing bundles of CNTs and single strand CNTs were discussed; specifically, the amount of optimal NH3 gas etchingis different between bundles of CNTs and single strand CNTs. In contrast to the CNT carpet growth. the single strand CNT growth requires shorter etching time (5 min) than large catalytic patterns (10 min) since nano dots already form catalyst islands for CNT growth. Through removing the plasma pretreatment process, the damage from being exposed at high temperature substrate occurring during the plasma generation time is minimized. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HTEM) shows fishbone structure of CNTs grown by PECVD....
Conventional water purified processes have low removal efficiencies for low concentrations of ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and micro-pollutants. The efficiency and mechanisms of a novel immobilized biological activated carbon (IBAC) process to remove those pollutants from treated potable water was investigated.Operated at a hydraulic retention time of 24 minutes, the IBAC process achieved ammonia nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and organic micro-pollutants (measured as COD equivalent) removal efficiencies of 95%, 96% and 37%, respectively. A GC/MS analysis of the organic micro-pollutants revealed that the initial 24 organic compounds in the in-coming water were reduced to 7 after the IBAC treatment. The organic micro-pollutant removal efficiency decreased with decreasing in-coming concentrations. Pollutant reduction in the IBAC process was achieved by a rapid physical adsorption on the activated carbon, which effectively retained the pollutants in the system despite the short hydraulic retention time, followed by a slower biological enzymatic degradation of the pollutants....
