Carbon Nanomaterials – A New Form of Ion Exchangers

Carbon nanomaterials are a new form of carbon based materials which have been receiving much attention for their interesting properties over the past three decades. The materials were initially discovered in 1952 [1] but were only scientifically recognized in 1991 when Iijima submitted a report [2]. An interesting feature of these allotropes of carbon has been the different forms in which they can exist. These include single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). These structures are depicted in Figure 1. The fundamental difference between these unique forms of carbon lies in their structural properties. SWCNTs and MWCNTs differ with respect to number of graphene carbon sheets.