Water and Wastewater Treatment from BTEX by Carbon Nanotubes and Nano-Fe

The removal of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) from aqueous solution by multi- and single-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs and SWCNTs), hybrid carbon nanotubes (HCNTs) and nano-Fe was evaluated for a nanomaterials dose of 1 g/L and a BTEX concentration of 10 mg/L and pH 7. The equilibrium amount (q(e)) (mg/g) removed by SWCNTs (B: 9.98, T: 9.96, E: 9.97, and X: 9.97 mg/g) was higher than for MWCNTs, HCNTs and nano-Fe in a c(0) of 10 mg/L and for a contact time of 10 min. The q(e) of total BTEX removed via SWCNTs was 39.89 mg/g. The order of uptake for SWCNTs is X > T = E > B, which is related to the increasing water solubility and the decreasing molecular weight of the compounds. The SWCNTs performed better for BTEX sorption than the MWCNTs, HCNTs and nano-Fe. The results of desorption study show that BTEX adsorbed on SWCNTs can easily be desorbed at 105 +/- 2 degrees C. It was concluded that recycling CNTs using heat improved the performance of the CNTs. For the first time, better adsorption performance was observed for recycled CNTs than for raw CNTs. SWCNTs are efficient BTEX adsorbents that could be used for cleaning up environmental pollution.