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Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and their derivatives for heavy metal removal

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Abstract

Carbon nanoadsorbents have attracted tremendous interest for metal ion removal from wastewater due to their extraordinary aspect ratios, surface areas, porosities, and reactivities. However, challenges still exist as they suffer from subpar dispersion and recovery, tending to aggregate, and so on. Thus, significant research efforts focus on modification of these carbon nanomaterials to increase the dispersions and recoveries, while maintaining or even enhancing the desirable properties. This review aims to give an in-depth look at recent and impactful advances in metal ion adsorption applications involving these modified carbon nanostructures. Here, the advanced design and testing of modified carbon nanostructures for metal ion removal are emphasized with comprehensive examples, and various adsorption behaviors and mechanisms are discussed, which are hoped to help the development of more effective adsorbents for water treatment.

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  1. Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, USA

    Guoqiang Yu, Manisha Patel, Adarsh Bafana, Clayton Jeffryes & Evan K. Wujcik

  2. Materials Engineering And Nanosensor (MEAN) Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Yang Lu & Evan K. Wujcik

  3. Integrated Composites Laboratory (ICL), Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Jiang Guo & Zhanhu Guo

  4. Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

    Xifan Wang

  5. College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Qiu

  6. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, USA

    Suying Wei

  7. Department of Materials Science, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Evan K. Wujcik

  8. Center for Materials for Information Technology [MINT], The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Evan K. Wujcik

Authors
  1. Guoqiang Yu
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  2. Yang Lu
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  3. Jiang Guo
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  4. Manisha Patel
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  5. Adarsh Bafana
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  6. Xifan Wang
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  7. Bin Qiu
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  8. Clayton Jeffryes
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  9. Suying Wei
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  10. Zhanhu Guo
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  11. Evan K. Wujcik
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Suying Wei, Zhanhu Guo or Evan K. Wujcik.

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Yu, G., Lu, Y., Guo, J. et al. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and their derivatives for heavy metal removal. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 1, 56–78 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-017-0004-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-017-0004-3

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