• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.259-290
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• 2022

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), due to their excellent physical, chemical and mechanical properties and their ability to prepare new membranes with attractive properties, have found applications in water and wastewater technology. CNT functionalization, which involves the introduction of different types of functional groups into pure CNTs, improves the capabilities of CNT membranes for water and wastewater treatment. It turns out that CNT-based membranes have many advantages, including enhanced water permeability, high selectivity and anti-fouling properties. However, their full-scale application is still limited by their high cost. With their tremendous separation efficiency, low biofouling potential and ultra-high water flux, CNT membranes have the potential to be a leading technology in water treatment in the future, especially in desalination.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

The modification of ultrafiltration membranes with carbon nanotube (CNT) buckypaper on fouling control was investigated. Two types of commercially available flat-sheet membranes were used: PS35 and PES900C/D (PES) (the PS35 membranes were hydrophilic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa, and the PES membranes were hydrophobic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa). The CNT buckypaper modified ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by filtering a CNT suspension through the flat-sheet membrane in a dead-end ultrafiltration unit. After modification, the pure water flux of PES was significantly increased, while the pure water flux of PS35 was decreased. The properties of the CNT modified membranes were also investigated. Considering the antifouling properties, pure water flux of the modified membrane, and the stability of CNT buckypaper layer on the membrane surface, ethanol solution with a concentration of 50 wt.%, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a larger diameter (30-50 nm), and the CNT loading with $7.5g/m^2$ was selected. The CNT buckypaper on the surface of ultrafiltration membranes can trap the pollutants in sewage effluent and prevent them reaching the surface of virgin membranes. Water quality analysis showed that the effluent quality of the modified membrane was obviously improved. The removal efficiency of humic acid and protein-like matters by the modified membrane was significant. These results indicate the potential application of the CNT buckypaper layer modified membranes in the field of wastewater reclaim.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.388-394
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• 2018

Carbon nanotube (CNT) based membranes are promising candidates for separation membranes by showing high water transport rate and ion rejection rate according to their radii. The ion selectivity is an important factor to discover the full potential of CNT membranes, and it is affected by the functionalization of CNTs. With multivalent/size ion mixtures, the ion selectivity is affected by not only ion-functional groups interaction but also ion-ion interactions and ion size exclusion in a complex manner. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the ion selectivity of functionalized carbon nanotubes when multivalent/size ions are contained. The permeation energy barriers are calculated by plotting potential of mean force profiles, and various factors, such as CNT size and partial charges, affecting ion selectivity are investigated. The results presented here will be useful for designing CNT membranes for ion separation, biomimetic ion channels, etc.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2022

Numerical modelling of an integrated Carbon NanoTube (CNT) membrane is only achievable if probable deformations and realistic alterations from a perfect CNT membrane are taken into account. Considering the possible forms of CNTs, bending is one of the most probable deformations in these high aspect ratio nanostructures. Hence, investigation of effect associated with bent CNTs are of great interest. In the present study, molecular dynamics simulation is utilized to investigate fluid flow dynamics in deformed CNT membranes, specifically when the tube cross section is not affected. Bending in armchair (5,5) CNT was simulated using Tersoff potential, prior to flow rate investigation. Also, to study effect of inclined entry of the CNT to the membrane wall, argon flow through generated inclined CNT membranes is examined. The results show significant variation in both cases, which can be interpreted as counter-intuitive, since the cross section of the CNT was not deformed in either case. The distribution of fluid-fluid and fluid-wall interaction potential is investigated to explain the anomalous behavior of the flow rate versus bending angle.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.148-156
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• 2012

In this research, the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) modified PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) membrane was tested as a simply and beginning attempt to overcome membrane fouling because CNTs importantly affect the transport of natural organic matter (NOM). Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) as the representative of NOM was selected and its sorption results with single-walled CNT (SWCNT), multi-walled CNT (MWCNT), and oxidized MWCNT (O-MWCNT) were obtained through the batch experiment. SRFA sorption isotherms had a strong nonlinearity and its sorption capacity followed the order O-MWCNT < MWCNT < SWCNT. The adsorbed mass of SRFA on each CNT decreased as a function of pH due to their charge repulsion. For the CNT-PVDF membrane filtration experiments, the suspended CNT solution (10 mg/40 mL) was incorporated into $0.45{\mu}m$-PVDF membrane and 5 mg/L of SRFA solution was monitored using UV detector connected with high pressure pump after passing through CNT-PVDF membrane. The SRFA removal efficiency by MWCNT-PVDF membrane was the strongest among other modified membranes. This suggests that the CNT modified microfiltration (MF) membrane might effectively and selectively apply to treat the contaminated water including organic compounds in the presence of NOM.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2018

There have been a lot of study to improve the performance of membrane filters as the removal of particulate matter has been of great interest due to the negative effects. Among the membrane fabrication techniques, the electrospinning technique is the most promising because it can produce uniform fibers ranging from nano to micrometer size. The electrospun membranes will greatly improve the filtration performance due to the high ratio of surface area to volume and the high porosity. In the present study, polystyrene (PS) and cellulose acetate (CA) polymers were used to produce the membranes with carbon nanotube (CNT), showing the filtration performances were improved with the optimal amounts of CNT.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.351-364
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• 2016

In recent decades, many researchers have tried to improve desalination performances of polyamide (PA) thin-film composite membranes (TFCs) by incorporating nanomaterials into a selective PA layer. This review focuses on PA-based nanocomposite membranes with high performances for energy-effective desalination in reverse osmosis. Carbon based nanomaterial (e.g., graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotubes (CNT)) and/or other nanoparticles (e.g., zeolite, silica and etc.,) were applied to overcome the trade-off correlation between water permeability and salt rejection of current polymeric desalination membranes. Here, this brief review will discuss current studies of PA-based nanocomposite membranes with enhanced separation characteristics and provide the future research direction to achieve further improved desalination performances.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.194-198
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• 2023

With the recent development of industrial technology, the problem of odor due to leakage of toxic gas discharged from industrial complexes is gradually increasing. Among them, hydrogen sulfide is a colorless representative odorous substance that can cause pain through irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract, and is a gas that can cause central nervous system paralysis and suffocation when exposed to high concentrations. Therefore, in order to improve the odor problem, research on a gas sensor capable of quickly and reliably detecting a leak of hydrogen sulfide is being actively conducted. A lot of research has been done on the existing metal oxide-based hydrogen sulfide gas sensor, but it has the disadvantage of requiring low selectivity and high temperature operating conditions. Therefore, in this study, a Pt/CNT-based electrochemical hydrogen sulfide gas sensor capable of detecting at low temperatures with high selectivity for hydrogen sulfide was developed. A working electrode capable of selectively detecting only hydrogen sulfide was fabricated by synthesizing Pt nanoparticles as a catalyst on functionalized CNT and applied to an electrochemical hydrogen sulfide gas sensor. It was confirmed that the manufactured Pt/CNT-based electrochemical hydrogen sulfide gas sensor has a current change of up to 100uA for hydrogen sulfide, and the both response time and recovery time were within 15 seconds.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2010

We performed time-domain terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to determine optical constants of highly conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) films. The CNT films have been fabricated on a flexible plastic substrate by using spin-coating or vacuum filtration. We found that the transmission of THz waves can be controlled by manipulating the thickness of the films and by post-treatments. From amplitude and phase information of the transmitted THz waves, we obtain optical constants such as refractive indices and dielectric constants of the CNT films. The frequency dependent dielectric constants show good metallic behaviors, relevant to the Drude free electron models with high plasma frequencies. It is also found that the dielectric constants are higher for the acid-treated films. Finally, the frequency dependent dielectric constants which are free from substrate effects have been demonstrated by using CNT films deposited on cellulose membranes.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.131-144
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• 2013

The carbon nanotube (CNT) represents one of the most unique inventions in the field of nanotechnology. CNTs have been studied closely over the last two decades by many researchers around the world due to their great potential in different fields. CNTs are rolled graphene with $SP^2$ hybridization. The important aspects of CNTs are their light weight, small size with a high aspect ratio, good tensile strength, and good conducting characteristics, which make them useful as fillers in different materials such as polymers, metallic surfaces and ceramics. CNTs also have potential applications in the field of nanotechnology, nanomedicine, transistors, actuators, sensors, membranes, and capacitors. There are various techniques which can be used for the synthesis of CNTs. These include the arc-discharge method, chemical vaporize deposition (CVD), the laser ablation method, and the sol gel method. CNTs can be single-walled, double-walled and multi-walled. CNTs have unique mechanical, electrical and optical properties, all of which have been extensively studied. The present review is focused on the synthesis, functionalization, properties and applications of CNTs. The toxic effect of CNTs is also presented in a summarized form.