Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective: Various industries such as petrochemical, oil refinery, pharmaceutical, plastics, paper, steel and, resin produce a substantial of phenol and its derivatives. Wastewaters containing phenol need careful treatment before discharging into the environment due to their poor biodegradability and high toxicity. The objective of this study was to remove phenol by multiwall carbon nanotubes from aqueous solution. Materials and Methods: Adsorption process was implemented in a laboratory-scale batch with emphasis on the effect of various parameters such as contact time (5 to 120 minutes), pH (3- 11), initial concentration of phenol (5 - 50 mg/l) and the sulfate and chloride ions (20 - 200 mg/l) on adsorption process. To achieve a better realization of adsorption process, sorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherms were also determined. Results: The results indicated that maximum adsorption capacity occurred at concentration 50 mg/L and t =30 minutes. The uptake fluctuated very little in the pH range of 3–9, and at greater than 9 the absorption decreased suddenly. Moreover, the presence of sulfate and chloride ions had no effect on the process. It was found that adsorption kinetics and equilibrium data follow a pseudo-second-order kinetics model and a Freundlich isotherm model respectively. Conclusion: It is concluded that carbon nanotubes being effective in a wide range of pH, short time to reach equilibrium and the absence of competing ions on the absorption process can be used effectively in removing phenol from aqueous solution.