Investigation of highly interaction effect between ferric chloride and methyl ammine-carbon nanotubes to remove turbidity from surface water

Regarding the importance of drinking water in the health of the people, its treatment is a critical research field. The aim of this study is investigating the effectiveness of coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) with amine agent (NH2CH2-MWCNT) and non-coated MWCNT with ferric chloride in comparison to ferric chloride in the removal of turbidity from the water surface. For the first time, the newest type of coagulant is synthesised with different Fe3+/NH2CH2-MWCNT molar ratios. The effect of the Fe3+/MWCNT molar ratios on the morphology and removal rate of turbidity is consistently investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Three types of experiments are performed from coagulant containing ferric chloride, ferric chloride/MWCNT and ferric chloride/NH2CH2-MWCNT for removal turbidity from the water surface, and all experiments are repeated three times. The optimum pH, ferric chloride doses and NH2CH2-MWCNT are determined experimentally as 8, 30 and 5 mg L−1, respectively. The turbidity removal efficiency for ferric chloride is obtained 88.41% but the efficiency of the removal percentage for ferric chloride/MWCNT is obtained 56.89, while the turbidity removal for ferric chloride/NH2CH2-MWCNT increases up to 93.46%. For ferric chloride/MWCNT it seems that the ferric chloride is trapping by MWCNT and therefore its performance is reduced. But, for ferric chloride/NH2CH2-MWCNT, the effective interaction between ferric chloride and NH2CH2-MWCNT and increasing in effective surface of the particles cause the efficiency of removing turbidity increases by up to 93.46%, which can be easily understood by the water quality obtained after the test.