Investigation of highly interaction effect between ferric chloride and methyl ammine-carbon nanotubes to remove turbidity from surface water

ABSTRACT

Regarding the importance of drinking water in the health of the people, its treatment is a critical research field. The aim of this study is investigating the effectiveness of coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with amine agent (NH₂CH₂-MWCNT) and non-coated MWCNT with ferric chloride in comparison to ferric chloride in the removal of turbidity from the water surface. For the first time, the newest type of coagulant is synthesised with different Fe³⁺/NH₂CH₂-MWCNT molar ratios. The effect of the Fe³⁺/MWCNT molar ratios on the morphology and removal rate of turbidity is consistently investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Three types of experiments are performed from coagulant containing ferric chloride, ferric chloride/MWCNT and ferric chloride/NH₂CH₂-MWCNT for removal turbidity from the water surface, and all experiments are repeated three times. The optimum pH, ferric chloride doses and NH₂CH₂-MWCNT are determined experimentally as 8, 30 and 5 mg L⁻¹, respectively. The turbidity removal efficiency for ferric chloride is obtained 88.41% but the efficiency of the removal percentage for ferric chloride/MWCNT is obtained 56.89, while the turbidity removal for ferric chloride/NH₂CH₂-MWCNT increases up to 93.46%. For ferric chloride/MWCNT it seems that the ferric chloride is trapping by MWCNT and therefore its performance is reduced. But, for ferric chloride/NH₂CH₂-MWCNT, the effective interaction between ferric chloride and NH₂CH₂-MWCNT and increasing in effective surface of the particles cause the efficiency of removing turbidity increases by up to 93.46%, which can be easily understood by the water quality obtained after the test.

KEYWORDS:

• Coagulant performance
• NH₂ CH₂-Multi-wall carbon nanotubes
• turbidity
• surface water
• purification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.