title: Outstanding adsorption performance of high aspect ratio and super-hydrophobic carbon nanotubes for oil removal.
abstract: Oil removal from water is a highly important area due to the large production rate of emulsified oil in water, which is considered one of the major pollutants, having a negative effect on human health, environment and wildlife. In this study, we have reported the application of high quality carbon nanotube bundles produced by an injected vertical chemical vapor deposition (IV-CVD) reactor for oil removal. High quality, bundles, super hydrophobic, and high aspect ratio carbon nanotubes were produced. The average diameters of the produced CNTs ranged from 20 to 50 nm while their lengths ranged from 300 to 500 μm. Two types of CNTs namely, P-CNTs and C-CNTs, (Produced CNTs from the IV-CVD reactor and commercial CNTs) were used for oil removal from water. For the first time, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was conducted to measure maximum oil uptake using CNT and it was found that P-CNT can take oil up to 17 times their weight. The effect of adsorbent dosage, contact time, and agitation speed were examined on the oil spill clean-up efficiency using batch sorption experiments. Higher efficiency with almost 97% removal was achieved using P-CNTs compared to 87% removal using C-CNTs.
authors: Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar; College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar.
authors: Ahmad
authors: A
authors: Kayvani Fard
authors: College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar.
authors: Gordon
authors: G
authors: Mckay
authors: Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar; College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar.
authors: Yehia
authors: Y
authors: Manawi
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Zuhair
authors: Z
authors: Malaibari
authors: Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar; College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, PO Box 5825, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: mhussien@qf.org.qa.
authors: Muataz A
authors: MA
authors: Hussien
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Adsorption; Carbon nanotubes; Oil emulsion; Oil sorption