Due to their unique structure and properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) released into the aquatic environment can potentially influence the behavior of other coexisting pollutants, thereby altering their toxicity to aquatic organisms. In this study, the toxicities of multi-walled CNTs and three heavy metals, copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) were determined individually. Following this, CNTs with low concentrations (1 and 5 mg/L) were co-exposed with Cu, Cd or Zn to the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus, to investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of CNTs on metal toxicity. Results showed that CNTs, especially at a concentration of 5 mg/L, promoted algae growth and enhanced photosynthetic efficiency via increasing exciton trap efficiency and quantum yield for electron transport. Introduction of CNTs appeared to alleviate the adverse effects of Cu, Cd or Zn on microalgae, indicated by algae growth, total chlorophyll content and photosynthetic indices. However, these effects differed greatly for different metals, depending on both the toxicity of each metal and the exposure period (4 day and 8 day). Enhancement of photosynthesis and interference of metal uptake by CNTs, have a crucial role in the effects of CNTs on metal toxicity.

由于其独特的结构和特性，释放到水生环境中的碳纳米管（CNT）可能会影响其他共存污染物的行为，从而改变其对水生生物的毒性。在这项研究中，分别测定了多壁碳纳米管和三种重金属铜（Cu），镉（Cd）和锌（Zn）的毒性。此后，将低浓度（1和5 mg / L）的CNT与Cu，Cd或Zn共暴露于微藻斜Scene藻，以研究碳纳米管对金属毒性的影响及其潜在机理。结果表明，碳纳米管，尤其是浓度为5 mg / L的碳纳米管，通过提高激子俘获效率和电子传输的量子产率，促进了藻类生长并提高了光合效率。碳纳米管的引入似乎减轻了铜，镉或锌对微藻的不利影响，藻类生长，总叶绿素含量和光合作用指数表明了这一点。但是，根据每种金属的毒性和暴露时间（4天和8天），这些影响对于不同的金属差异很大。碳纳米管的光合作用的增强和金属吸收的干扰，在碳纳米管对金属毒性的影响中具有至关重要的作用。