Scientists at Nagoya University have developed a one-step process that improves the ability
Researchers explained that nanocarbonsused to treat water and wastewater by adsorption or absorption of dyes, gases, organic compounds and toxic metal ions. They can adsorb lead and mercury by molecular attraction. But this attraction is weak, and therefore they are ineffective.
To improve the process, scientists add molecules,which form stronger chemical bonds with heavy metals. They are also trying to find ways to use all available surfaces on nanocarbons to adsorb metal ions, including their internal pores. This will increase their ability to adsorb more metal ions at a time.
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They mixed phenol as a carbon source witha compound called APTES as a source of amino groups. This mixture was placed in a glass chamber and subjected to high voltage, creating a plasma in the liquid. The "plasma dissolution process" was maintained for 20 minutes. Black precipitates from amino-modified carbons formed and were collected, washed and dried.
A variety of tests have shown that amino groupsuniformly distributed over the surface of nanocarbon, including in its slit-like pores. After calculations, they were able to find out that the process significantly increases the adsorption capacity compared to using nanocarbon.
“Our experiment can reduce the cost of water treatment and bring us closer to achieving universal and equal access to a safe and accessible by 2030,” the researchers note.