Nickel Removal from Aqueous Environments Using Carbon Nanotubes

Nickel is one of the heavy metals in the surface water that its Harmful effects can include bone and lung cancers, cyanosis, chronic headaches, dizziness, and chest pain and body weakness. This study has been performed to determine the efficiency of reducing nickel from aqueous environments by using carbon nanotubes. Experiments were performed in batch reactor and changing effective factors such as pH, time and concentration of carbon nanotubes. Removal efficiency was investigated using a Friedman statistical test, software SPSS-16.The highest removal efficiency was 82.5% at a concentration of 100 mg/L of carbon nanotubes, pH = 10, retention time of 10 min and nickel concentrations of 40 mg/L. The results showed that carbon nanotubes have a high ability to absorb high concentrations of nickel in the aquatic environment.