Sorption of triclosan to carbon nanotubes: The combined effects of sonication, functionalization and solution chemistry

The sonication effect on the sorption behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with different functional groups has been poorly understood in previous studies, especially when combined with solution chemistry that may affect both the sorption and dispersion of CNTs. Our results show that sonication accelerated sorption of triclosan and increased the sorption capacities of CNTs with and without functionalizations at a neutral pH. Regardless of how sonication on CNTs was applied, the sorption decreased in the following order: pristine CNTs > CNTs-OH > CNTs-COOH. Sorption decreased with the increase of pH for all types of CNTs due to the electrostatic repulsion between triclosan and CNTs. The pH effect is greater for pristine CNTs than functionalized CNTs, while the sonication effect is greater for functionalized CNTs than pristine CNTs. Sonication increased sorption at a low pH (i.e., <9.5) but decreased sorption at a high pH (i.e., >95) for all types of CNTs, which may be due to the difference in the structure of CNTs at different pHs. Within 0.001-0.1 M NaCl, sorption increased and then decreased for all types of CNTs with and without sonication, which can be explained by the balance between the salting-out effect and electrostatic screening effect. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.