Sorption of ²⁴³Am(III) to Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes have attracted great interest in multidisciplinary study since their discovery. Herein, radionuclide 243Am(III) sorption to uncapped multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was carried out at 20+/-2 degrees C in 0.01 and 0.1 M NaClO4 solutions. Effects of 243Am(III) solution concentration, ionic strength, and pH on 243Am(III) sorption to MWCNTs were also investigated. The sorption is strongly dependent on pH values and weakly dependent on the ionic strength in the experimental conditions. The results show that MWCNTs can adsorb 243Am(III) with extraordinarily high efficiency by forming very stable complexes. Chemisorption or chemicomplexation is the main mechanism of 243Am(III) sorption on the surface of MWCNTs. MWCNTs can be a promising candidate for the preconcentration and solidification of 243Am(III) or its analogue lanthanides and actinides from large volumes of aqueous solution, as required for remediation purposes, and perhaps also as a sorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from the industry wastewater.

Adsorption and Reduction of Chromium(VI) from Aqueous Solution by Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

“…The as-grown MWCNTs (raw MWCNTs) were used directly in the experiments. Part of the samples was added into the solution of 3M HNO 3 to remove the hemispherical caps of the nanotubes [16]. Thus oxidized MWCNTs were also studied as a comparison.…”

“…Li et al [27] had ever measured the point of zero charge (pH pzc ) of oxidized MWCNTs and found it to be about 5. We measured the pH pzc of oxidized MWCNTs to be ~5 in our previous paper [16].…”

“…According to the carbon atom layers on the sidewalls of the nanotubes, CNTs can be visualized as a sheet of graphite that has been rolled into a tube, and divided into single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) [11][12][13][14]. Our previous results suggested that the oxidized MWCNTs showed exceptional adsorption capability and high adsorption efficiency for the removal of Ni(II), Am(III) and Th(IV) from wastewater [15][16][17]. The oxidized MWCNTs may be promising materials in environmental pollution management.…”

Nuclear and radiochemistry in China: present status and future perspectives

“…Wang and his colleagues performed a series of experimental investigations on nuclear waste treatment and disposal [27][28][29]. One of their research areas is to explore the potential applications of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to treat nuclear waste.…”

“…Carbon nanotubes have attracted great interest in multidisciplinary study since their discovery. Wang et al studied the 243 Am(III) sorption to uncapped MWCNTs in NaClO 4 solutions, and found that MWCNTs can adsorb 243 Am(III) with extraordinarily high efficiency by forming very stable complexes, where chemisorption or chemicomplexation is the main mechanism [28]. Their investigations indicated that MWCNTs might be a promising candidate for the preconcentration and solidification of 243 Am(III) or its analogue lanthanides and actinides from large volumes of aqueous solution.…”