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Modified Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Membranes for the Elimination of Antibiotics from Water
oleh: Jana Gaálová, Mahdi Bourassi, Karel Soukup, Tereza Trávníčková, Daniel Bouša, Swati Sundararajan, Olga Losada, Roni Kasher, Karel Friess, Zdeněk Sofer
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-09-01 |
Deskripsi
The hydrophilic and hydrophobic single-walled carbon nanotube membranes were prepared and progressively applied in sorption, filtration, and pertraction experiments with the aim of eliminating three antibiotics—tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim—as a single pollutant or as a mixture. The addition of SiO<sub>2</sub> to the single-walled carbon nanotubes allowed a transparent study of the influence of porosity on the separation processes. The mild oxidation, increasing hydrophilicity, and reactivity of the single-walled carbon nanotube membranes with the pollutants were suitable for the filtration and sorption process, while non-oxidized materials with a hydrophobic layer were more appropriate for pertraction. The total pore volume increased with an increasing amount of SiO<sub>2</sub> (from 743 to 1218 mm<sup>3</sup>/g) in the hydrophilic membranes. The hydrophobic layer completely covered the carbon nanotubes and SiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles and provided significantly different membrane surface interactions with the antibiotics. Single-walled carbon nanotubes adsorbed the initial amount of antibiotics in less than 5 h. A time of 2.3 s was sufficient for the filtration of 98.8% of sulfamethoxazole, 95.5% of trimethoprim, and 87.0% of tetracycline. The thicker membranes demonstrate a higher adsorption capacity. However, the pertraction was slower than filtration, leading to total elimination of antibiotics (e.g., 3 days for tetracycline). The diffusion coefficient of the antibiotics varies between 0.7–2.7 × 10<sup>−10</sup>, depending on the addition of SiO<sub>2</sub> in perfect agreement with the findings of the textural analysis and scanning electron microscopy observations. Similar to filtration, tetracycline is retained by the membranes more than sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim.