Undoped and Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Remediation of Contaminants from Wastewater

Abstract

Water scarcity is a major problem in today’s world. Day-by-day wastewater quantity goes on increasing as population goes on increasing. For the degradation of pollutants from water, various methods such as adsorption, catalysis, etc., were reported. Recently, carbon nanotubes are widely used for the removal of pollutants from water such as heavy metals, dyes, phenol, oil, and various organic and inorganic pollutants. To increase the capacity of nanotubes for the removal of pollutants, doping is carried out. Doped carbon nanotubes are used in several applications such as oxygen reduction reaction, photocatalytic activities, fuel cells, etc. Carbon nanotubes were generally doped with N2, Ag, Al, Co, B, etc., for various applications. Carbon nanotubes combine other materials like grapheme; membranes are also used for the removal of harmful pollutants from wastewater. This work consists of introduction to undoped carbon nanotubes and doped carbon nanotubes doped with different elements, synthesis method, and their characterization. Further, it includes the applications of undoped and doped 52carbon nanotubes for removal of heavy metals, dyes, organic compounds, pathogens, etc., from wastewater. Doping of carbon nanotubes gives added advantage of better degradation and removal of pollutants from water. Composites of carbon nanotubes with various materials or membranes improve potential of carbon nanotubes for removal of pollutants from wastewater.