Carbon nanotube-alumina strips as robust, rapid, reversible adsorbents of organics

Developing nanostructured adsorbents of organics is crucial for environmental protection with low energy consumption, but care needs to be taken to prevent the loss of nanomaterials because of their small size. This paper reports the fabrication of carbon nanotube (CNT)-alumina strips (CASs) with a high surface area, sufficient mesopores and strongly interacted structure. Use of CASs allowed the rapid and reversible adsorption–desorption of para-xylene, when compared to pristine powders of CNT and activated carbon. Use of CASs is promising for the practical use when packed in a scaled adsorption tower.