Abstract
In order to explore the effect of –OH functional groups in Cs+ adsorption, we herein used the low temperature plasma-induced grafting method to graft chitosan onto carbon nanotubes (denoted as CTS-g-CNTs), as raw-CNTs have few functional groups and chitosan has a large number of –OH functional groups. The synthesized CTS-g-CNT composites were characterized using different techniques. The effect of –OH functional groups in the Cs+ adsorption process was evaluated by comparison of the adsorption properties of raw-CNTs with and without grafting chitosan. The variation of environmental conditions such as pH and contact time was investigated. A comparison of contaminated seawater and simulated groundwater was also evaluated. The results indicated that: (1) the adsorption of Cs+ ions was strongly dependent on pH and the competitive cations; (2) for CNT-based material, the –OH functional groups have a positive effect on Cs+ removal; (3) simulated contaminated groundwater can be used to model contaminated seawater to evaluate the adsorption property of CNTs-based material. These results showed direct observational evidence on the effect of –OH functional groups for Cs+ adsorption. Our findings are important in providing future directions to design and to choose effective material to remedy the removal of radioactive cesium from contaminated groundwater and seawater, crucial for public health and the human social environment.
Highlights
Radioactive cesium is of serious social and environment concern as it readily dissolves in water, it has a high fission yield (6.09%), and a long half-life (T1/2 = 30.17 years) [1,2]
The morphology and size of the raw-Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and CTS-g-CNTs were characterized by SEM and TEM
The cesium ions could diffuse into the inner part of the nanotubes, indicating that the pore filling is one of the possible main mechanisms for the capture of Cs+ ions by CNT-based material
Summary
Radioactive cesium is of serious social and environment concern as it readily dissolves in water, it has a high fission yield (6.09%), and a long half-life (T1/2 = 30.17 years) [1,2]. When accidentally released to the ground and sea, it is crucial for both the natural and the human social environment to find an effective material for removal of radioactive cesium from contaminated groundwater and seawater. Over the past 50 years, various effective materials for capturing Cs+ ions have been developed. Datta et al [1] designed a novel vanadosilicate with hexadeca-coordinated Cs+ ions as highly effective for Cs+ removal. Torad et al [8] showed a large Cs+ adsorption capability of nano-structured Prussian blue particles. There are few reports about the effect of functional groups on Cs+ adsorption
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