title: Multifunctional and recollectable carbon nanotube ponytails for water purification.
abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising nanomaterials that have the potential to revolutionize water treatment practices in the future. The direct use of unbounded CNTs, however, poses health risks to humans and ecosystems because they are difficult to separate from treated water. Here, we report the design and synthesis of carbon nanotube ponytails (CNPs) by integrating CNTs into micrometer-sized colloidal particles, which greatly improves the effectiveness of post-treatment separation using gravitational sedimentation, magnetic attraction, and membrane filtration. We further demonstrate that CNPs can effectively perform major treatment tasks including adsorption, disinfection, and catalysis. Using model pollutants such as methylene blue, Escherichia coli, and p-nitrophenol, we show that all the surfaces of individual CNTs in CNPs are accessible during water treatment. Our results suggest that the rational design of hierarchical structures represents a feasible approach to develop nanomaterials for engineering applications such as water and wastewater treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hanyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Dingding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Chongzheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Na
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D005374:Filtration; D006801:Humans; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D009596:Nitrophenols / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D009596:Nitrophenols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014867:Water; C024836:4-nitrophenol