Cation exchange resin nanocomposites based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are of great interest due to their potential applications in different fields such as water treatment and desalination. The increasing exploitation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into many industrial processes has raised considerable concerns for environmental applications. The interactions of soluble salt with MWNCTs influence in the total salt content in saline water. In this work, we synthesized two cation exchange resins nano composites from polystyrene divinylbenzene copolymer (PSDVB) and pristine MWNCTs. The prepared compounds were characterized using infra red spectroscopy, thermal stability, X-ray diffraction, and electro scan microscope. Also, the ion capacities of prepared cation exchange resins were determined by titration. Based on the experimental results, it was found that the thermal stability of prepared nanocomposites in the presence of MWNCTs increased up to 617 °C. The X-ray of PSDVB and its sulfonated form exhibits amorphous pattern texture structure, whereas the nano composite exhibits amorphous structure with indication peak at 20° and 26° for the PSDVB and MWCNTs, respectively. The ion-exchange capacity increased from 225.6 meq/100 g to 466 mg/100 g for sulfonated PSDVB and sulfonated PSDVB MWNCTs-pristine, respectively.