COMPARISON OF OXIDIZED CARBON NANOTUBES EFFICIENCIES FOR BENZENE AND TOLUENE REMOVAL FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used as adsorbent in environmental treatment, especially for pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The purpose of this work is to develop materials based on functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for Benzene and Toluene removal. This will exploit adsorption propertiesof modified MWCNTS for Benzene and Toluene. In the first study, adsorption capacity of pristine MWCNTs to Benzene and Toluene in aqueous solution was investigated through isotherm study. The qe values of CNTs for Benzene and Toluene were 45,5 mg.g-1 and 56.3 mg.g-1, respectively and a contact time of 120 min. The modification of three oxidized MWCNTs were performed with acid solution (HNO3/H2SO4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The modified MWCNTs materials (CNT-COOH,CNT-NaOCl,CNT-H2O2) were characterized by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The effects of functional groups on the MWCNTs on the adsorption capacity of Benzene, Toluene in aqueous solution were studied and compared to pristine MWCNTs. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of adsorption was significantly enhanced with oxidized CNTs, and following the order CNTs-NaOCl > CNTs-H2O2> CNTs-H2SO4> pristine CNTs.