Chapter 13 - Carbon nanocomposites for wastewater treatment

Abstract

The most important and necessary substance for life on earth is water. The huge increase in civilization, population has led to the deterioration of the available water resources. There has been an expanding intrigue in the study of alternative of nanomaterial utilization as systematic material for water purification. Carbon nanomaterials are unique because of their nontoxic nature, high surface area, easier biodegradation, and particularly useful environmental remediation. Carbon nanomaterials namely carbon nanotubes (CNTs), fullerenes, graphene, graphene oxide, and activated carbon have a very good potential for removal of heavy metals from water because of their large surface area, nanoscale size, and availability of different functionalities and they can be modified chemically. Heavy metals due to their alarming effects are considered to be highly toxic and these heavy metal ions must be removed from the water sources. Hence various methods have been adopted to remove these metal ions from water. This work mainly focuses on the removal of metal ion using adsorption technique. After a comprehensive review of the range of materials used as adsorbents to remove heavy metals, the paper focuses on one particular technique, involving CNTs. Tests have confirmed that CNTs are highly efficient, but have also revealed some drawbacks. Functionalizing the CNTs will help to enhance its external surface and imparts better results.