(47cu) Nanotechnology on Removing Arsenic Using Modified Carbon NANO- Tubes (MCNTs)

This study explains the percentage removal of arsenic from water by using modified multi- walled carbon nanotubes (MCNTs) as adsorbents.  Apart from the raw carbon nanotubes, various metals has been impregnated on the large surface area of the CNT namely iron, titanium, silver, gold, copper and analyzed further to compare the percentile removal of each. The study investigates further the effect of the presence of carboxylic functional group (-COOH) functionalized on the surface of the carbon nanotubes on the removal of arsenic. To study the influence of the arsenic removal from water, the independent variables considered in this part of the paper are pH, running time and agitation speed. The concentration of the arsenic solution used in throughout the experiment was 1000 µg/L i.e. 1 ppm. The presence of Nano materials in the CNTs was characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to measure the lengths and the diameters of the CNT. Results of the study showed that iron and titanium impregnated on the surface of the CNT has the highest removal percentage compared to pure CNT and the functionalized CNT with carboxylic group. Almost 70% of the arsenic was removed from the water that contained 1 ppm arsenic contamination. The highest removal was at pH 3, contact time of 24 hours and agitation speed of 200 RPM. Part of the study is also dedicated to investigate the effect of dosage in the removal of arsenic from water.