Synthesis of Fe-SWCNHs via Arc-discharge in Water Method and Its Application on Antibiotics Adsorption

Abstract

The unique structures of SWCNHs motivate scientists and researchers to conduct various investigations on them. SWCNHs outstanding properties, i.e. high surface area and good chemical stability lead to several useful applications. Among various methods for synthesizing SWCNHs, Gas-Injected Arc-In-Water method (GI-AIW) is recognized as a good candidate because it is a simple, compact, and cost-effective method. Meanwhile, SWCNHs produced by the proposed method can be used to adsorb antibiotics because of their high specific surface area. In this study, GI-AIW method with unique configuration of graphite anode inserted with iron (Fe) wires was employed for synthesizing Fe-SWCNHs. The nitrogen gas flow rate of 8 L/min would lead to highest production yield (%) of SWCNH (varying from 4, 6, 8, and 10 L/min) about 7.7%. Tetracycline was employed as a target antibiotic due to its wide usage in Thai agricultural industry. Both of Fe-SWCNH and SWCNH have the antibiotic adsorption capability. However, the addition of Fe is found to worsen antibiotics adsorption capacity of SWCNHs from 25% to 21% approximately.