Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been one of the most studied nanoparticles and incorporated into various consumer products. It has been reported that CNTs can enter groundwater systems by accidental or intentional release into the subsurface. As transport mechanisms of CNTs are not well understood, investigation on mobility of CNTs in the subsurface will be helpful to define disposal regulations of CNTs. The objective in this study is to investigate the effect of solution chemistry (pH and ionic strength) and physical factors (collector grain size and flow rate) on the transport of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). One-dimensional convection-dispersion model incorporated with collector efficiency for cylindrical nanoparticles was used to simulate the transport of MWCNTs in porous media. It was observed that higher pH led to increase in mobility of MWCNTs. The critical point of ionic strength for MWCNTs getting mobilized was narrowed down in the range of 2 to 5 mM. It was observed that the finer porous media could retain more nanoparticles. The decrease in pore water velocity resulted in a clear retardation, lowered the hydrodynamic force acting on the particles and led to more retention.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-177092 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Dixiao, Bao |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Luft-, vatten och landskapslära |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Examensarbete vid Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 1650-6553 ; 236 |
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