Development of Carbon Quantum Dot Decorated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Incorporated into the Recycled PET Nanocomposites for Dye Remediation

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is a thermoplastic polyester broadly used in various areas[1]. PET recycling is obviously a waste-management strategy which is receiving increasingattention that can decrease environmental influence and resource depletion. The great specificsurface areas of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT)s, their hollow and layered structures,cause to they be an ideal sorbent [2, 3]. Conjugation of carbon quantum dots (CQD)s ascapping agents on MWNTs surface not only prevents the formation of nanotubes aggregatesbut also can improve the removal efficacy of the contaminants. In this study, first theMWNTs surface was functionalized by CQDs. Then, nanocomposites (NC)s were preparedby incorporation of MWNT/CQDs into the recycled PET (r-PET) (Fig. 1A). The preparedNCs were further employed to eliminate methylene blue (MB) from aqueous media. MBsorption capacity values for all r-PET/MWNT/CQD NCs were not only higher than r-PET butalso were higher than r-PET/MWNT NC 4 wt% (without CQD) (Fig. 1B).