Removal of carbon nanotubes from aqueous environment with filter paper

The potential health and environmental hazards of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been a concerned issue. However, in contrast to the wide recognition of the toxicity of CNTs, little attention has been paid to the decontamination/remediation of CNT pollution. In this study, we report that CNTs can be removed from aqueous environment. In the presence of Ca²⁺, CNTs aggregate quickly to micron size and then enable easy and effective removal via normal filtration. After filtration, CNT suspension becomes colorless with the remnant CNT concentration less than 0.5 μg mL⁻¹, a safe dose based on the published data. The filtration approach also works well in the presence of typical surfactant and dissolved organic matter. The removal efficiency is Ca²⁺ concentration-dependent and regulated by the initial pH value and ionic strength. Our study is helpful for future decontamination of CNTs from aqueous environment.     

新型MnOx/CNTs催化剂低温选择性催化还原NO

采用等体积浸渍法制备了MnOx/CNTs催化剂,用于低温NH3选择性催化还原（SCR）NO的实验。使用BET,FT-IR,TEM和XRD对催化剂进行表征,结果表明：碳纳米管经混酸超声分散,增加了羧基活性基团,锰氧化物颗粒分布较均匀。在模拟烟气条件下,考察了催化剂的MnOx负载量、煅烧温度及质量和烟气流速比（W/F）对NO脱除率的影响。煅烧温度为773 K,MnOx负载量为10%时,NO脱除率达到98.56%;W/F为2-3 mg/（mL·min^-1）时NO的脱除率更高。     

多壁碳纳米管结构对复合光催化剂催化效果的影响

采用溶胶凝胶法制备了多壁碳纳米管负载纳米TiO₂的复合光催化剂（TiO₂/MWCNTs）,以偶氮类染料甲基橙为目标污染物,在自制的光催化反应器上进行了光催化降解反应实验。主要研究同一甲基橙初始浓度（C₀)下,多壁碳纳米管不同管长和管径对复合光催化剂催化效果的影响。结果表明：该降解反应可用一级反应动力学方程描述,反应速率常数k随着多壁碳纳米管管长和管径的增大而增大;与纯纳米TiO₂相比,复合光催化剂对甲基橙的降解率提高了6％～18％,反应速率常数为前者的1.19～2.11倍;采用复合光催化剂的甲基橙光降解溶液自行沉降分离效果较好,静止沉降60 min后达到沉降平衡,剩余浊度为8.5 NTU,下降了90.6％。     

Testing the resistance of single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes to chemothermal oxidation used to isolate soots from environmental samples

Quantification of natural and engineered carbon nanotubes (CNT) in the environment is urgently needed to study their occurrence and fate and to enable a proper risk assessment. Currently, such methods are lacking. Here, we tested the resistance of 15 structurally different CNTs to chemothermal oxidation at 375 °C (CTO-375), a method used to isolate soots from environmental samples. Depending on their structure, CNTs survived CTO-375 in proportions ranging from 26 to 93%. Standard addition of CNTs to soil and sediment yielded recoveries between 66 and 171%, demonstrating the capability of CTO-375 to isolate CNTs from complex environmental matrices. These data of pure and added CNTs correspond to recoveries obtained with “ordinary” soots under similar experimental conditions. Hence, soot fractions commonly isolated with CTO-375 from environmental matrices most probably encompass CNTs. Future work should attempt to enhance the method's selectivity, i.e., its capability to separate CNTs from other forms of soot.     

Adverse effects of fullerenes (nC60) spiked to sediments on Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta)

Effects of fullerene-spiked sediment on a benthic organism, Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaeta), were investigated. Survival, growth, reproduction, and feeding rates were measured to assess possible adverse effects of fullerene agglomerates produced by water stirring and then spiked to a natural sediment. L. variegatus were exposed to 10 and 50 mg fullerenes/kg sediment dry mass for 28 d. These concentrations did not impact worm survival or reproduction compared to the control. Feeding activities were slightly decreased for both concentrations indicating fullerenes’ disruptive effect on feeding. Depuration efficiency decreased in the high concentration only. Electron and light microscopy and extraction of the worm fecal pellets revealed fullerene agglomerates in the gut tract but not absorption into gut epithelial cells. Micrographs also indicated that 16% of the epidermal cuticle fibers of the worms were not present in the 50 mg/kg exposures, which may make worms susceptible to other contaminants.     

A comparative study on sorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) by chars, ash and carbon nanotubes

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), as one of emerging contaminants, has been attracting increasing concerns in recent years. Sorption of PFOS by maize straw- and willow-derived chars (M400 and W400), maize straw-origin ash (MA) as well as three carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was studied in this work. The sorption kinetics of PFOS by the six adsorbents was well fitted by the pseudo-second-order model. CNTs reached equilibrium in 2 h, much faster than those by chars (384 h) and ash (48 h). According to the sorption isotherms, both single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and MA had high sorption capacities (over 700 mg g⁻¹), while the two chars had low sorption capacities (below 170 mg g⁻¹) caused by their small BET surface area. In the case of MA, due to its positively charged surface, both hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic attraction involved in the sorption, and the formation of hemi-micelles further favored the sorption. This study suggested that SWCNT and MA were effective adsorbents for PFOS removal from water. Compared to SWCNT, MA is low cost and easy to obtain, so it could be a preferred adsorbent for PFOS removal.     

不同阳极微生物燃料电池产电性能的比较

微生物燃料电池在处理废水的同时可以产生电能,有希望同时解决废水再利用和能量再产生的问题。采用单室无膜空气阴极微生物燃料电池,处理模拟生活污水,探讨MFC处理模拟废水的效果。研究了以碳布(MFC1)、碳布负载碳纳米管(MFC2)、碳纳米管(MFC3)和泡沫镍(MFC4)作为4种不同的阳极材料,对MFC系统的启动、内阻和产电特性进行比较。结果表明,4种不同阳极MFC在水力停留时间24 h的条件下,对COD有很好的去除作用,其中MFC2的COD去除效率最大,为91.4%。在不影响MFC系统处理废水效果的前提下,实验得到4种阳极MFC系统中MFC2具有最小的内阻,为173.7Ω;并且其功率密度也大于其他3种MFC,达到401.2 mW/m2。     

碳纳米管电极原位产生过氧化氢及其对亚甲基蓝脱色效果

将碳纳米管固定化制成多孔疏水性导电薄膜构建电化学阴极还原体系,实现过氧化氢在阴极的原位产生。电极特性研究表明,电极在较宽的电压范围内均具有较好的活性。考察了阴极电位、电极成分、氧气流量和电解质浓度对过氧化氢原位产生的影响,在优化条件下经过120min后过氧化氢达到66．17mg／L,并探讨过氧化氢原位产生的机理。在此基础上考察原位过氧化氢氧化工艺下对亚甲基蓝的脱色效果,并分析其脱色机理。     

纳米TiO 2 -碳纳米管复合膜修饰电极伏安法测定水中α -萘酚和β -萘酚

摘要：制备了一种新型的纳米TiO2-碳纳米管复合膜修饰电极,在pH值为5.57的NaAc-HAc缓冲溶液中,研究了α-萘酚和β-萘酚在该修饰电极上的电化学行为,据此建立了纳米TiO2-碳纳米管复合膜修饰电极伏安法测定水中α-萘酚和β-萘酚的方法。优化了试验条件,α-萘酚和β-萘酚分别在8.3×10^-7mol／L—1.0×10^-5mol／L和7.8×10^-7mol／L—1.0×10^-5mol／L范围内,浓度与氧化峰电流呈良好的线性关系,开路富集3min,检出限分别为3.5××10^-7mol／L和2.3×10^-7mol／L,模拟水样测定的回收率为97.6％—101％。     

MWNTs及MWNTs/TiO2对水中1,2,3-三氯苯的吸附特性研究

采用批量平衡实验,对比研究了多壁碳纳米管（MWNTs）及多壁碳纳米管/二氧化钛复合材料（MWNTs/TiO₂）对水中1,2,3-三氯苯的吸附特性。结果表明,在相同条件下,MWNTs及MWNTs/TiO₂对1,2,3-三氯苯（1,2,3-TCB）的最大吸附量分别为71.8 mg/g和3.05 mg/g,pH值在2~11之间变化时,两者的吸附均不受pH值变化的影响。2种吸附剂的吸附过程均符合拟二级动力学方程,但MWNTs/TiO₂对1,2,3-TCB的吸附速率常数为0.4159 g/(mg·min),约为MWNTs的50倍左右,说明MWNTs/TiO₂具有更强的吸附驱动力。1,2,3-TCB在2种吸附剂上的吸附过程均可用Freundlich吸附等温线来描述,其热力学参数吉布斯自由能△G⁰均为负、标准焓变△H⁰与熵变△S⁰均为正表明,MWNTs及MWNTs/TiO₂吸附1,2,3-TCB过程为自发吸热反应。与MWNTs相比,MWNTs/TiO₂具有可光催化再生的优点,能用于被污染水体的原位修复。