Fabrication of novel buckypaper metal oxide nano-catalysis glycerol carbonate/MWCNTs membrane for efficient removal of heavy metals

Seham S Alterary; Ahmed A Alshahrani; Shahad A Alsahli

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12633

Fabrication of novel buckypaper metal oxide nano-catalysis glycerol carbonate/MWCNTs membrane for efficient removal of heavy metals

Heliyon. 2022 Dec 23;8(12):e12633. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12633. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Seham S Alterary¹, Ahmed A Alshahrani², Shahad A Alsahli¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, P.O. Box 11495, Saudi Arabia.
² National Centre for Radiological Applications Technology, King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh, 11442, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

This study describes the fabrication of novel buckypaper membranes through the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in the presence of surfactants metal oxide nano-catalysis Zinc oxide and magnesium oxide (ZnO and MgO) glycerol carbonate separately. Following vacuum filtration of the scattered solutions, self-supporting membranes known as buckypapers (BPs) were produced. The suggested membranes were employed for the efficient removal of heavy metals. The obtained data indicated that the incorporation of both glycerol carbonates prepared by two different nano metal oxides enhanced the permeability of MWCNTs membranes rejection efficiency. The characterization of the synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles, as well as the physicochemical and morphological properties of the membranes, were investigated. The rejection capabilities of membranes for the heavy metal ions were examined. Moreover, the suggested MWCNTs/ZnO nano-catalyst glycerol carbonate BP membrane displayed high rejection efficiency for heavy metals (Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Pb²⁺) than that prepared from the MgO nano-catalyst one.

Keywords: Buckypaper membrane; Heavy metals; Metal oxides nanoparticles; Surfactants; Water treatments.