Influence of Synthesis-Heating Conditions on the Porosity and Performance of a Carbon Nanotube/SDS-Alumina Nanocomposite for Effective Wastewater Treatment: Fabrication, Characterization, and Adsorption Modeling

Wastewater treatment for the removal of heavy metalscan reduceenvironmental contamination, enable safer industrial activities, andenhance sustainable practices. Efficient materials processing orientedto low temperature operating conditions; thus, the development andmodeling of carbon nanotube/SDS-alumina nanocomposite-based adsorbents(CNT/SDS-alumina) for efficient wastewater treatment are investigatedin this work. The optimization of a low temperature-based processis targeted in this work to achieve a cost-effective method for fabricationof CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposites. The fabrication process involvesthe investigation of various heating conditions in an oven and autoclavewith successful optimization for the formation of porous CNT/SDS-aluminananocomposite-based adsorbents. The fabricated materials were characterizedby TEM, SEM, XRD, FTIR, and surface area analysis. The results indicatethat the heating condition is the factor controlling the formationof the porous structure of the CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposite, whichaffects the wastewater treatment application. The surface area washigher (49.26-51.02 cm(2)/g) for CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposite-basedadsorbents prepared under autoclave heating conditions. The best adsorptioncapacity values obtained using the CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposite preparedunder autoclave conditions were 463 mg/g for arsenic ions and 418mg/g for mercury ions, revealing the high efficiency of the preparedmaterials for the adsorption of pollutants. The adsorption processfor the removal of arsenic and mercury is reported to follow the second-orderkinetic model. The adsorption data for the CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposite-basedadsorbents prepared under autoclave heating conditions are well fittedwith the Langmuir isotherm, suggesting a monolayer adsorption mechanism.Additionally, the prepared CNT/SDS-alumina nanocomposite-based adsorbentsare recommended for potential applications involving the adsorptionof various heavy metals for real wastewater treatment situations.