Adsorption mechanism of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for advanced Cu (II) removal

Abstract Functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (F-MWCNTs) were synthesized and characterized using various analytical techniques such as FTIR, XRD, and SEM. The synthesized F-MWCNTs were applied as adsorbent for the rapid adsorption of noxious Cu (II) ions from the aqueous solution and the influence several effective parameters such as contact time, adsorbent dosage, pH and initial metal ion concentration on the adsorption of Cu (II) ions by F-MWCNTs was well studied and the optimized values of influential parameters contact time, adsorbent dosage, pH and initial metal ion concentration using batch adsorption study were 60 min, 10 mg L − 1 , 3 and 20 mg L − 1 respectively. The results showed high adsorption capacity of 118.41 mg g − 1 and removal efficiency of about 93% of Cu (II) ions from the wastewater. Hence, the potential application of F-MWCNTs as an adsorbent for the fast adsorption of Cu (II) ions from aqueous solutions was successfully accomplished.