Most aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives are harmful organic molecules. Despite their low solubility, trace amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons can be present in water. If water is contaminated by aromatic hydrocarbons, it is very difficult to remove these from water. Through contaminated water, these compounds can exert deleterious effects in plants and animals, as well as on human health. Fullerenes and their derivatives typically exhibit hydrophobic characteristics, and are therefore considered as good adsorbents for the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons. Herein, the removal of benzene, aniline and benzoic acid by fullerene and fullerene nanowhiskers was evaluated. While benzene was removed satisfactorily from water, aniline and benzoic acid were not, owing to the presence of ionized functional groups. However, adjustment of the solution pH to values where the functional groups of aniline or benzoic acid do not have any charge, resulted in an increase in their adsorption. High pH values were found to have a positive effect on the removal of aniline, while low pH values were beneficial for the adsorption of benzoic acid. Fullerenes and fullerene nanowhiskers were thus found to be promising adsorbents for the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons.

中文翻译：

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富勒烯 ($$\hbox {C}_{60})$$C60) 和富勒烯纳米晶须在水中吸附苯、苯胺和苯甲酸

大多数芳烃及其衍生物是有害的有机分子。尽管它们的溶解度低，但水中仍可能存在痕量的芳烃。如果水被芳香烃污染，则很难将它们从水中去除。通过受污染的水，这些化合物会对植物和动物以及人类健康产生有害影响。富勒烯及其衍生物通常表现出疏水特性，因此被认为是去除芳烃的良好吸附剂。在此，评估了富勒烯和富勒烯纳米晶须对苯、苯胺和苯甲酸的去除。虽然苯可以令人满意地从水中去除，但苯胺和苯甲酸不能，因为存在离子化的官能团。然而，将溶液的 pH 值调整到苯胺或苯甲酸的官能团不带任何电荷的值，导致它们的吸附增加。发现高 pH 值对苯胺的去除有积极影响，而低 pH 值有利于苯甲酸的吸附。因此发现富勒烯和富勒烯纳米晶须是去除芳烃的有前途的吸附剂。