Removal of radiocobalt from aqueous solution by oxidized MWCNT

The study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube (oxidized MWCNT) for the removal of radiocobalt (⁶⁰Co) from aqueous solutions. The oxygen functional groups of oxidized MWCNT were characterized by FT-IR and XPS. Batch experiments were performed to study the sorption of cobalt as a function of contact time, solid contents, pH, ionic strength, foreign ions, and temperature. Two kinetic models viz. pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order were used to determine kinetic sorption parameters, and the kinetic sorption could be described more favorably by the pseudo-second-order model. The thermodynamic parameters (∆G°, ∆S°, ∆H°) calculated from the temperature-dependent sorption isotherms indicated that the sorption of Co(II) on oxidized MWCNT was an endothermic and spontaneous processes. The results suggest that oxidized MWCNT can be used efficiently in the treatment of industrial effluents containing radioactive and heavy metal ions.