Microwave-assisted synthesis of ceria nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes and their dye-removal assesstment

We report the synthesis of ceria nanoparticles supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes via a microwave-assisted method. The resulting composites were characterized by HRTEM, XRD, TGA and Raman spectroscopy. This method enabled the growth of ceria nanoparticles of ~1.4 nm homogeneously distributed on the surface of the carbon nanotubes. The adsorption effectiveness of these materials was evaluated using methylene blue as a model molecule. The produced nanocomposites showed higher dye adsorption capability and removal percentage (62.1 mg/g, 95.3%) than the functionalized carbon nanotubes (37.1 mg/g, 56.7%). The experimental kinetic results were best fitted by the pseudo second-order model. The Langmuir isotherm model exhibited the best fit of the equilibrium adsorption data. Increasing the temperature increased the adsorption capacity of the composite. The ceria/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites show great potential to remove organic dyes from contaminated water.