Adsorption of chromium (VI) on functionalized and non-functionalized carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We did a comparative study on the adsorption capacity of Cr (VI) between functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and non-functionalized CNTs. The statistical analysis reveals that the optimum conditions for the highest removal of Cr (VI) are at pH 9, with dosage 0.1 gram, agitation speed and time of 120 rpm and 120 minutes, respectively. For the initial concentration of 1.0 mg/l, the removal efficiency of Cr (VI) using functionalized CNTs was 87.6% and 83% of non-functionalized CNTs. The maximum adsorption capacities of functionalized and non-functionalized CNTs were 2.517 and 2.49 mg/g, respectively. Langmuir and Freundlich models were adopted to study the adsorption isotherm, which provided a K L and K F value of 1.217 L/mg and 18.14 mg1−n L n /g functionalized CNT, while 2.365 L/mg and 2.307 mg1−n L n /g for non-functionalized CNTs. This result proves that functionalized CNTs are a better adsorbent with a higher adsorption capacity compared with the non-functionalized CNTs.