Journal of Materials Science, Vol.49, No.3, 1014-1024, 2014
Hydrothermal synthesis of lead dioxide/multiwall carbon nanotube nanocomposite and its application in removal of some organic water pollutants
Lead dioxide/multiwall carbon nanotube (PbO2/MWCNT) nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal formation of lead dioxide on functionalized MWCNT. PbO2 nanoparticles were formed from 0.015 M Pb(OH) (3) (-) (75 ml) solution in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (0.1 g). The solution was mixed with ammonium persulfate (NH4)(2)S2O8 as oxidizing agent and transferred to 100 ml Teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave heating it to 60 A degrees C for 3 h. To prepare nanocomposite, PbO2 formation was carried out in the presence of ultrasonically dispersed MWCNT. A black-brown product was formed in reaction vessel. The product was collected and then dried in an oven at 70 A degrees C for 24 h. The morphology and composition of precipitate were investigated by X-ray power diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of XRD and TEM show globular alpha-PbO2 nanoparticles immobilize on the surface of the MWCNTs. Also, TGA results demonstrated the presence of CNT in nanocomposite. The prepared PbO2/MWCNT nanocomposite is used to construct the solid-phase cartridge. The performance of solid phase in the removal of pesticides from drinking water is determined by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. The average adsorption depends on concentration of spiked pollutants and their relative standard deviations were between 1.4 and 11 %.