A setup for electrically controlled liquid-phase sorption of organic pollutants on nanostructured materials

Elena Neskoromnaya,Alexander Babkin,Alexander Burakov,S Bratan,S Gorbatyuk,S Leonov,S Roshchupkin

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201712906020

Abstract

The present paper considers the possibility of intensifying the process of liquid-phase sorption of organic molecules of methyl orange dye through exposure to an electromagnetic field. A laboratory setup for water conditioning and an experimental procedure are presented. Activated carbons of different chemical nature (stone carbon – AG-5, charcoal – BAU-A, and NWC coconut shell carbon in its initial form – NWC and nanomodified with carbon nanotubes – NWC-T) were used as sorption materials. Moreover, the possibility of employing “Taunit”-series (Taunit, Taunit-M, Tainit-MD) carbon nanotubes (CNTs), produced at NanoTechCenter Ltd. (Tambov, Russia), in its native form in the process of electrically controlled sorption was also evaluated. In the course of performing comparative studies, the positive influence of the electromagnetic field on the sorption process was established. The adsorption capacity of the sorbents was found to increase 1.5-2 times under the voltage of 100 V. The sorption activity of the materials under study increased in the following sequence: BAU-A<AG-5<NWC <NWC-T <“Taunt“<“Taunit-MD“<“Taunit-M“

Highlights

Electrical sorption taking place in a heterogeneous medium under the influence of an external electric field is one of the varieties of sorption technologies
The present paper considers the possibility of intensifying the process of liquid-phase sorption of organic molecules of methyl orange dye through exposure to an electromagnetic field
The authors of this works have proved that the electric field really intensifies the process of extracting the organic pollutant molecules from aqueous solutions

Summary

Introduction

Electrical sorption taking place in a heterogeneous medium under the influence of an external electric field is one of the varieties of sorption technologies. An electric water conditioner represents a water purification system comprising a filter element with porous adsorbents and electrodes that generate an electromagnetic field. This device can be used for treating wastewater to remove dangerous pollutants of different chemical nature [1, 2]. The possibility of improving the qualitative characteristics of liquid-phase sorption from aqueous media due to directed electromagnetic exposure in the presence of highly effective sorbents – industrial activated carbons (ACs) and other types of carbon materials – carbon nanotubes (CNTs) – was studied. In the present study, all three abovedescribed CNTs types were used for electrically controlled liquid-phase sorption, together with the starting (initial) and nanomodified ACs

A Laboratory Setup

Adsorption studies

Conclusions