Overutilization of
organic-based compounds (e.g., fertilizers)
in agricultural settings continues to cause concern due to potential
adverse impacts on the health of humans and the environment. Adsorbents,
such as activated carbon, are widely used due to their ability to
adsorb various contaminants. Limitations in the effectiveness of activated
carbon, where high uptake capacities are desired, require the need
for alternatives to current state-of-the-art adsorbents. In this work,
the adsorption capability of a lightweight, carbon-based aerogel is
presented. The aerogel is composed of 0 to 2 wt % mixture of both
graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT).
Two organic compounds, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and
1-pyrenebutyric acid (PBA), served as the contaminants of interest.
Results show that the aerogel containing 0.2 wt % SWCNT-GnP achieved
an uptake capacity of 0.22 mg of 2,4-D/mg of aerogel and 0.083 mg
of PBA/mg of aerogel. Compared to activated carbon, from a kinetic
standpoint, the aerogels produced in this work demonstrated 39-fold
higher adsorption of 2,4-D and 5-fold higher adsorption of PBA, making
them a viable candidate as a next generation adsorbent.
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