Adsorption of uraemic toxins on carbon nanotubes

The adsorption properties of two representative uraemic toxins (i.e., creatinine and vitamin B12) on CNTs were studied compared with two commercial haemoadsorbents (i.e., activated carbon and macroporous resin). Results show that it takes only 15 and 10 min for CR and VB12 to achieve the adsorption equilibrium on CNTs. The adsorption amount of VB12 on CNTs reaches 47.18 mg/g, which is 5.5 and 10.8 times of that of macroporous resin and activated carbon, respectively. Pore structure analyses indicate that the high adsorption efficiency should be attributed to the higher ratio of mesopores and macropores and the higher pore volume of CNTs. All of the results imply the great potential applications of CNTs in haemoperfusion.