Abstract—This study was carried out to evaluate the environmental application of modified and non-modified carbon nanofiber through the experiment removal of zinc from water. Results of the study showed that raw (non-modified) CNFs have very poor efficiency in removing zinc from water by conventional adsorption mechanism. However, when CNFs was modified with carboxylic group, a significant improvement in the zinc removal efficiency was observed. Five independent variables including pH, CNFs dosage, contact time, agitation speed and initial concentration were carried out to determine the influence of these parameters on the adsorption capacity of the zinc from water. Results of the study showed that, 97 % of zinc was removed by using COOH-CNFs at pH 7, 150 rpm, and 2 hours. These high removal efficiencies were likely attributed to the strong affinity of zinc to the physical and chemical properties of the CNFs. For results analysis, adsorption isotherms have been used in order to study the kinetics of the adsorption behavior and to determine the adsorption capacity of the absorbents.

Index Terms—Carbon nanofiber, zinc removal, functionlization and adsorption isotherms.

Muataz Ali Atieh, Chemical Engineering Department, Center of Research Excellence in Nanotechnology (CENT), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
TEL: 0096638606182, FAX: 0096638604234
Email: motazali@kfupm.edu.sa

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Cite: Muataz Ali Atieh, "Effect of Functionalized Carbon Nanofibers with Carboxylic Function Group on the Removal of Zinc from water," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 142-145, 2011.