Adsorption/desorption of explosives on Ni-, Co-, and NiCo-carbon composites: Application in solid phase extraction

Abstract

Solid phase extraction of aliphatic and aromatic explosives (nitrate esters, nitramines and nitroaromatics) on Ni-, NiCo- and Co- carbon composites was studied. It was shown that the composites could be used as materials tailored for effective extraction of explosives from aqueous samples (spiked lake water) and their selective elution − desorption with acetonitrile (aliphatic explosives), and dimethylformamide (aromatic explosives). The composites were obtained from phenol-formaldehyde resin as a carbon precursor using a mechanochemical method and pyrolysis at 800°C. The structure and morphology of the nanocomposites were characterized using nitrogen adsorption, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, and TEM methods It came out that particles of the composites consist of metal core coated with relatively uniform graphitic layers of several nanometers in thickness. It was ascertained that texture and porosity of the composites are strongly depended on the applied metal, e.g. mesoporosity ot the samples increases in the line of Ni − NiCo − Co composite.