Evaluation of the Sorbent Properties of Single- and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes for Volatile Organic Compounds through Thermal Desorption-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess well-defined structural and chemical characteristics coupled with a large surface area that makes them ideal as sorbent materials for applications where adsorption processes are required. The adsorption properties of carboxylated derivatives of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH-MWCNT) and singlewalled carbon nanotubes (COOH-SWCNT), together with their nonfunctionalized counterparts (MWCNT and SWCNT) for 48 common atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined using thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GCMS). The CNTs exhibited similar recoveries for many of the VOCs compared to the standard sorbent materials, Carbopack X and Tenax TA.