Boosting the adsorption and removal of dye from water by COOH-functionalized carbon nanotubes

Water pollution caused by dye is a serious challenge. Herein, we use a novel discharge process to functionalize carbon nanotube (CNT) by COOH groups to form CNT30 for removing methyl red (MR) from water. By pristine CNT, 75% MR is removed in 60 min, with an adsorption capacity of 68.44 mg g-1. By CNT30, 85% MR is fast removed in only 5 min, and the removal efficiency reaches to 95% after 30 min, with an adsorption capacity of 80.33 mg g-1. Thus, a higher MR removal efficiency is achieved in a much shorter time on CNT30. Moreover, CNT30 has an outstanding reusability, with the MR removal efficiency decreasing by only 7% after ten cycles. The COOH groups on CNT30 improve the hydrophilicity of CNT30, thus promoting the interaction of MR in water with CNT30. The hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction of MR with the COOH groups on CNT30 could be the force to drive MR adsorption on CNT30. The higher COOH content could be the origin for the better performance of CNT30 in removing dye from water. The discharge process developed herein is operated in O2, without using harmful substances, and the COOH content on CNT can be efficiently tuned by simply changing discharge time. This is different from the chemical modification widely used to functionalize CNT by strong oxidants, e.g., HNO3. The present work is of great significance to realize green construction of materials for more efficiently removing dye from water.