A Sorption Study of Bisphenol A in Aqueous Solutions on Pristine and Oxidized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Environmental protection draws great attention worldwide due to the release of various harmful pollutants that represent risks or threats to animals and humans. Among these pollutants, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as environmental contaminants interfere with the normal hormonal functions in wildlife and humans. This study proposes multi-walled carbon nanotubes -(MWCNTs) pristine and oxidized, and weathered for one year in environmental conditions - as sorbents for bisphenol A (BPA) from aqueous solution. Kinetic and isotherm models are examined. Better sorption capacities are shown for the functionalized MWCNTs-COOH because of the two types of predominating interactions that take place: electrostatic and p-p interactions. The Langmuir isotherm model fit better than the Freundlich one, showing that the adsorption of BPA on MWCNTs is a monolayer adsorption on homogeneous surfaces.