Carbon nanotube yarn (CNTY) is a promising material for the removal of organic contaminants from aqueous waste streams due to its extraordinary mechanical strength, chemical stability, thermal stability and high surface area. In the current study, CNTY was used as a sorbent to treat water contaminated by a model nitroaromatic compound, 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) . The DNT adsorption capacity of pristine CNTY was measured in the laboratory over a range of dissolved DNT concentrations (1-24 mg L<sup>-1</sup>) and compared with the literature adsorption capacity values of alternative sorbents. The kinetics of DNT adsorption on CNTY were also investigated. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize size (&lt; 100 nm), surface morphology, and surface chemistry (C, O, Fe) of the CNTY before and after DNT adsorption. Adsorption of DNT on CNTY could be modeled using a Freundlich isotherm, with a Freundlich constant of 55.8 mg/g(L/mg)^1/n and a Freundlich exponent of 0.734. This appears to be the first study to investigate an environmental application of CNTY and it demonstrates that this novel material has potential use as a sorbent to treat organic compound-contaminated water.

Application of carbon nanotube yarn as a filter media to treat nitroaromatic-contaminated water

249th National Meeting (2015)

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