Transport and retention behavior
of multi-walled carbon nanotubes
(MWCNTs) was studied in mixtures of negatively charged quartz sand
(QS) and positively charged goethite-coated sand (GQS) to assess the
role of chemical heterogeneity. The linear equilibrium sorption model
provided a good description of batch results, and the distribution
coefficients (K
D
) drastically
increased with the GQS fraction that was electrostatically favorable
for retention. Similarly, retention of MWCNTs increased with the GQS
fraction in packed column experiments. However, calculated values
of K
D
on GQS were around
2 orders of magnitude smaller in batch than packed column experiments
due to differences in lever arms associated with hydrodynamic and
adhesive torques at microscopic roughness locations. Furthermore,
the fraction of the sand surface area that was favorable for retention
(S
f
) was much smaller
than the GQS fraction because nanoscale roughness produced shallow
interactions that were susceptible to removal. These observations
indicate that only a minor fraction of the GQS was favorable for MWCNT
retention. These same observations held for several different sand
sizes. Column breakthrough curves were always well described using
an advective-dispersive transport model that included retention and
blocking. However, depth-dependent retention also needed to be included
to accurately describe the retention profile when the GQS fraction
was small. Results from this research indicate that roughness primarily
controlled the retention of MWCNTs, although goethite surfaces played
an important secondary role.
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