Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is one of the persistent organic pollutants that has aroused global concern. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have drawn much research attention due to their unique properties. This study was aimed to investigate the adsorption behaviour of PFOS with relation to CNTs and clarify their interactions. Electrostatic repulsion suppressed the sorption of PFOS to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), resulting in low sorption at high pH. With the increase of anion concentration, the removal of PFOS decreased by 20 to 30% because ionic strength changed the aggregation of the MWCNTs. Unlike inorganic anions, cationic metals including Cu(II) and Pb(II) had a significant impact on the sorption of PFOS onto the MWCNTs. At low concentrations of Cu(II) and Pb(II), PFOS removal decreased due to the suppressive effect of ionic strength, while the removal of PFOS increased rapidly with increasing metal concentrations, especially for functionalized MWCNTs. The enhanced adsorption of PFOS at high Cu(II) and Pb(II) concentrations was attributed to the adsorbed cationic metals which might further adsorb PFOS.
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Research Article|
January 27 2014
Adsorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate on carbon nanotubes: influence of pH and competitive ions
Yue Bei;
Yue Bei
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Shubo Deng;
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
E-mail: dengshubo@tsinghua.edu.cn
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Ziwen Du;
Ziwen Du
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Bin Wang;
Bin Wang
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Jun Huang;
Jun Huang
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Gang Yu
Gang Yu
1State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Water Sci Technol (2014) 69 (7): 1489–1495.
Article history
Received:
November 04 2013
Accepted:
January 14 2014
Citation
Yue Bei, Shubo Deng, Ziwen Du, Bin Wang, Jun Huang, Gang Yu; Adsorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate on carbon nanotubes: influence of pH and competitive ions. Water Sci Technol 1 April 2014; 69 (7): 1489–1495. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2014.049
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