Chemical reductive technologies for the debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers: A review.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are widely used as brominated flame retardants, which had attracted amounts of attention due to their harmful characteristics of high toxicity, environmental persistence and potential bioaccumulation. Many chemical reductive debromination technologies have been developed for the debromination of PBDEs, including photolysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, zero-valent metal reduction, chemically catalytic reduction and mechanochemical method. This review aims to provide information about the degradation thermodynamics and kinetics of PBDEs and summarize the degradation mechanisms in various systems. According to the comparative analysis, the rapid debromination to generate bromine-free products in an electron-transfer process, of which photocatalysis is a representative one, is found to be relatively difficult, because the degradation rate of PBDEs depended on the Br-rich phenyl ring with the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) localization. On the contrary, the complete debromination occurs easily in other systems with active hydrogen atoms as the main reactive species, such as chemically catalytic reduction systems. The review provides the knowledge on the chemical reductive technique of PBDEs, which would greatly help not only clarify the degradation mechanism but also design the more efficient system for the rapid and deep debromination of PBDEs in the future.

Advanced oxidative degradation of sulfamethoxazole by using bowl-like FeCuS@Cu2S@Fe0 catalyst to efficiently activate peroxymonosulfate.

A novel hierarchical bowl-like FeCuS@Cu2S@Fe0 nanohybrid catalyst (B-FeCuS@Cu2S@Fe0) was synthesized for removing sulfamethoxazole (SMX) through catalytic activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS). It was found that this catalyst exhibited excellently high catalytic activity. Under optimized reaction conditions, all the added SMX (12 mg/L) could be completely degraded within 5 min. The SMX degradation followed pseudo first order kinetics with a rate constant k of 0.89 min-1, being 1.38, 4.51, 8.99 and 35.6 times greater than that of other catalysts including Fe0 (0.644 min-1 in the very initial stage), bowl-like iron-doped CuS (B-FeCuS, 0.197 min-1), bowl-like CuS (B-CuS, 0.099 min-1) and Cu2O (0.025 min-1), respectively. During the degradation, several reactive oxygen species (·OH, SO4·- and 1O2) were generated with ·OH as the main one as confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance analysis. The SMX degradation in the present system included both radical and non-radical mediated processes. A possible mechanistic insight of the PMS activation by bowl Fe0 decorated CuS@Cu2S-based catalyst was proposed according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis, and the degradation pathway of SMX was speculated by monitoring the degradation intermediates with liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

A functional Au array SERS chip for the fast inspection of pesticides in conjunction with surface extraction and coordination transferring.

The fast inspection of the pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables requires the development of facile, sensitive and accurate methods. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a promising way to provide a fast inspection method, which requires significant improvements in the reproducibility and feasibility. In the present work, an SERS method was developed for the fast inspection of pesticides on fruit peels in conjunction with surface extraction and coordination transferring. In this new method, the residual pesticides were directly extracted from fruit peels with an appropriate extraction solution and then quantitatively transferred onto an organic solvent-compatible Au array SERS chip through the strong chemical interactions between the heteroatoms in the pesticides and the gold surface. The functional SERS chip was fabricated by the interfacial assembly of an Au array on a membrane, which produced dense and uniformly distributed SERS hot spots and enabled compatibility with random curvature surfaces and handheld Raman spectrometers. As a proof of concept, sulfur atoms containing thiram on apples were detected at a concentration as low as 5 ng cm-2 with good reproducibility (relative standard deviation lower than 10%). The strong interactions between the sulfur atoms and gold surface during the coordination transferring process were confirmed by the enhanced vibrations of the specified bands occurring in both the Raman and IR spectra. This surface extraction-coordination transferring-based method holds wide applicability for heteroatom-containing pesticides, as demonstrated by the detection of various S- and P-containing pesticides.

Reductive Debromination of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers: Dependence on Br Number of the Br-Rich Phenyl Ring.

Reductive debromination has been widely studied for the degradation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), although the reaction mechanisms are not so clear. In the present study, the photocatalytic degradation and debromination of ten PBDEs were carried out with CuO/TiO2 nanocomposites as the photocatalyst under an anaerobic condition. The pseudo-first-order rate constants were obtained for the photocatalytic debromination of PBDEs, and their relative rate constants ( kR) were evaluated against kR= 1 for BDE209. Unlike the generally accepted summary that kR is dependent on the total Br number ( N) of PBDEs, kR is found to depend on the Br number on a phenyl ring with more Br atoms than the other one. In other words, a phenyl ring substituted by more Br is more reactive for the reductive debromination. The calculated LUMO energies ( ELUMO) of all PBDEs are well correlated to the more reactive phenyl ring with more Br, compared with the N of two phenyl rings. The result was explained by LUMO localization on the Br-rich phenyl ring, suggesting that the reductive debromination occurs on the phenyl ring.

Complete Defluorination and Mineralization of Perfluorooctanoic Acid by a Mechanochemical Method Using Alumina and Persulfate.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a persistent organic pollutant that has received concerns worldwide due to its extreme resistance to conventional degradation. A mechanochemical (MC) method was developed for complete degradation of PFOA by using alumina (Al2O3) and potassium persulfate (PS) as comilling agents. After ball milling for 2 h, the MC treatment using Al2O3 or PS caused conversion of PFOA to either 1-H-1-perfluoroheptene or dimers with a defluorination efficiency lower than 20%, but that using both Al2O3 and PS caused degradation of PFOA with a defluorination of 100% and a mineralization of 98%. This method also caused complete defluorination of other C3∼C6 homologues of PFOA. The complete defluorination of PFOA attributes to Al2O3 and PS led to the weakening of the C-F bond in PFOA and the generation of hydroxyl radical (•OH), respectively. During the MC degradation, Al2O3 strongly anchors PFOA through COO--Al coordination and in situ formed from Lewis-base interaction and PS through hydrogen bond. Meanwhile, mechanical effects induce the homolytic cleavage of PS to produce SO4•-, which reacts with OH group of Al2O3 to generate •OH. The degradation of PFOA is initiated by decarboxylation as a result of weakened C-COO- due to Al3+ coordination. The subsequent addition of •OH, elimination of HF, and reaction with water induce the stepwise removal of all carboxyl groups and F atoms as CO2 and F-, respectively. Thus, complete defluorination and mineralization are achieved.

Efficient degradation of drug ibuprofen through catalytic activation of peroxymonosulfate by Fe3C embedded on carbon.

Ibuprofen (IBU), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is becoming an important member of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) as emerging pollutants. To degrade IBU, magnetic Fe3C nanoparticles embedded on N-doped carbon (Fe3C/NC) were prepared as a catalyst by a sol-gel combustion method. As characterized, the Fe3C/NC nanoparticles were composed of a NC nano-sheet and capsulated Fe3C particles on the sheet. The Fe3C/NC nanoparticles were confirmed an efficient catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to generate sulfate radicals (SO4•-), single oxygen (1O2) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) toward the degradation of IBU. The added IBU (10 mg/L) was almost completely removed in 30 min by using 0.1 g/L Fe3C/NC and 2 g/L PMS. The catalyst was confirmed to have good ability and excellent reusability through leaching measurements and cycle experiments. A catalytic mechanism was proposed for the catalytic activation of PMS on Fe3C/NC, which involves both Fe3C reactive sites and N-doped carbon matrix as reactive sites in Fe3C/NC. Moreover, the degradation pathway of IBU in the Fe3C/NC-PMS system was proposed according to the detections of degradation intermediates.

Polyaniline Nanofibers: Their Amphiphilicity and Uses for Pickering Emulsions and On-Demand Emulsion Separation.

The wetting property of nanomaterials is of great importance to both fundamental understanding and potential applications. However, the study on the intrinsic wetting property of nanomaterials is interfered by organic capping agents, which are often used to lower the surface energy of nanomaterials and avoid their irreversible agglomeration. In this work, the wetting property of the nanostructured polyaniline that requires no organic capping agents is investigated. Compared to hydrophilic granular particulates, polyaniline nanofibers are amphiphilic and have an excellent capability of creating Pickering emulsions at a wide range of pH. It is suggested that polyaniline nanofibers can be easily wetted by water and oil. Furthermore, the amphiphilic polyaniline nanofibers as building blocks can be used to construct filtration membranes with a small pore size. The wetting layer of the continuous phase of emulsions in the porous nanochannels efficiently prevents the permeation of the dispersed phase, realizing high-efficiency on-demand emulsion separation.

Ultrarapid and Deep Debromination of Tetrabromodiphenyl Ether over Noble-Metal-Free Cu/TiO2 Nanocomposites under Mild Conditions.

Fast and deep debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) under mild conditions is a challenge in the field of pollution control. A strategy was developed to achieve it by exploiting Cu/TiO2 composites as a noble-metal-free catalyst. Toward the debromination of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE47) as a typical PBDE, the use of Cu/TiO2 as a catalyst and hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O) as a reducing agent yielded a degradation removal of 100% and a debromination efficiency of 87.7% in 3 s. A complete debromination of BDE47 at 1500 mg L-1 was possible by successively adding N2H4·H2O. A debromination pathway involving active H atom species was proposed for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of PBDEs according to the identified degradation intermediates. A mechanism was further clarified by density functional theory calculations: electrons are delivered from N2H4·H2O to the metallic Cu atom via a coordination of N in N2H4·H2O with Cu atoms. The electron-trapped Cu atom interacts with adsorbed BDE47 to form a transition complex, and then the debromination of this complex occurs on the surface of Cu nanoparticles due to the hydrogen donation of N2H4·H2O through the CTH process. The new method provides a highly efficient method to remove brominated pollutants.

Rapid Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Detection of Sibutramine Hydrochloride in Pharmaceutical Capsules with a ß-Cyclodextrin- Ag/Polyvivnyl Alcohol Hydrogel Substrate.

Sibutramine hydrochloride (SH) is a banned weight-loss drug, but its illegal addition to health products is still rampant. This suggests a very urgent need for a fast and precise detection method for SH. Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is a promising candidate for this purpose, but the weak affinity between SH and bare metal limits its direct SERS detection. In the present work, ß-cyclodextrin was capped in situ onto the surface of Ag nanoparticles to function as a scaffold to capture SH. The obtained Ag nanoparticles were encapsulated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to fabricate a SERS active hydrogel with excellent reproducibility. A facile SERS strategy based on such substrate was proposed for trace SH quantification with a linear range of 7.0-150.0 µg·mL-1, and a detection limit low to 3.0 µg·mL-1. It was applied to analyze seven types of commercial slimming capsules with satisfactory results, showing good prospect for real applications.

Catalytic Oxidation of Phenol and 2,4-Dichlorophenol by Using Horseradish Peroxidase Immobilized on Graphene Oxide/Fe3O4.

Graphene oxide/Fe3O4 (GO/Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthesized by an ultrasonic-assisted reverse co-precipitation method, and then horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was covalently immobilized onto GO/Fe3O4 with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) as a cross-linking agent. In order to enhance the phenol removal efficiency and prevent the inactivation of the enzyme, the polyethylene glycol with highly hydrophilicity was added in this reaction, because the adsorption capacity for the polymer by degradation was stronger than the HRP. The results showed that the immobilized enzyme removed over 95% of phenol from aqueous solution. The catalytic condition was extensively optimized among the range of pH, mass ratio of PEG/phenol as well as initial concentration of immobilized enzyme and H2O2. The HRP immobilized on GO/Fe3O4 composite could be easily separated under a magnetic field from the reaction solution and reused.

Nitrogen-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide as a Bifunctional Material for Removing Bisphenols: Synergistic Effect between Adsorption and Catalysis.

Nitrogen modified reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) was prepared by a hydrothermal method. The nitrogen modification enhanced its adsorption and catalysis ability. For an initial bisphenol concentration of 0.385 mmol L(-1), the adsorption capacity of N-RGO was evaluated as 1.56 and 1.43 mmol g(-1) for bisphenol A (BPA) and 1.43 mmol g(-1) for bisphenol F (BPF), respectively, both of which were about 1.75 times that (0.90 and 0.84 mmol g(-1)) on N-free RGO. N-RGO could activate persulfate, producing strong oxidizing sulfate radicals. The apparent degradation rate constant of BPA on N-RGO was 0.71 min(-1), being about 700 times that (0.001 min(-1)) on N-free RGO. In mixtures of various phenols, the degradation rate constant of each phenol was linearly increased with its adsorption capacity. A simultaneous use of N-RGO and persulfate yielded fast and efficient removal of bisphenols. The use of N-RGO (120 mg L(-1)) and persulfate (0.6 mmol L(-1)) almost completely removed the added bisphenols (0.385 mmol L(-1)) at pH 6.6 within 17 min. A mechanism study indicated that the adsorption enriched the pollutant, and the catalytically generated sulfate radicals rapidly degrade the adsorbed pollutant, accelerating in turn the adsorption of residual pollutant.

EGb761 Ameliorates Neuropathic Pain by Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species.

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain is a well-known type of chronic pain caused by damage to the nervous system. Until recently, researchers have found that increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to the development of exaggerated pain hypersensitivity during neuropathic pain. METHODS: In this study, we investigated the antinociceptive efficacy of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb761) in chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain of rats. To explore the underlying mechanisms, the effects of EGb761 on the excitability of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and activation of JNK in DRG were explored. RESULTS: We showed that systemic administration of EGb761 inhibited the behavioral responses of neuropathic pain and found that EGb761 treatment could inhibit the H2O2-induced depolarization in the acutely dissociated DRG neurons. In addition, we found that EGb761 treatment could inhibit the expression of p-JNK in DRG. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest that administration of EGb761 can ameliorate neuropathic pain, and further indicate that JNK, which is activated by both exogenous and endogenous ROS, might be the mechanism underlying the effects of EGb761 on CCI neuropathic pain.

Immobilization of horseradish peroxidase on NH2-modified magnetic Fe3O4/SiO2 particles and its application in removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol.

Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by a co-precipitation method with the assistance of ultrasound irradiation, and then coated with silica generated by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethoxysilane. The silica-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles were further modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, resulting in anchoring of primary amine groups on the surface of the particles. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was then immobilized on the magnetic core-shell particles by using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent. Immobilization conditions were optimized to obtain the highest relative activity of the immobilized enzyme. It was found the durability of the immobilized enzyme to heating and pH variation were improved in comparison with free HRP. The apparent Michaelis constants of the immobilized HRP and free HRP with substrate were compared, showing that the enzyme activity of the immobilized HRP was close to that of free HRP. The HRP immobilized particles, as an enzyme catalyst, were used to activate H2O2 for degrading 2,4-dichlorophenol. The rapid degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol indicated that the immobilized enzyme has potential applications for removing organic pollutants.

Magnetically separable Pd-iron-oxides composites as highly efficient and recyclable catalysts for ultra-rapid degradation and debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

When precious nano-metals are used as environmental catalysts, it is important to tune the particle sizes and the reusability of the nano-metals for achieving their highly efficient catalytic performance at a low cost. In the present work, magnetic iron oxides (FeOx-Y) nanoparticles were pre-prepared as supports of nano-metals, where Y represented the mole percentage of Fe(III) in the total iron (Y ≥ 50 %). FeOx-Y (support), PdCl42- (Pd source) and NaBH4 (reducing agent) were added into the organic pollutant solution containing 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE47). After the NaBH4 was added, the followed reaction realized not only the rapid in-situ preparation of a Pd-loaded FeOx-Y composite catalyst (Pd-FeOx-Y), but also the ultra-fast and complete debromination of BDE47 within 30 s. Comparing the case without adding FeOx-Y, the debromination efficiency of BDE47 was much promoted in the presence of FeOx-Y. The support-induced enhancing effect on the catalytic ability of Pd nanoparticles was improved by increasing the Fe(III) content in the support, being attributed to the much more hydroxyl groups on the support surface. Considering both the catalytic and recovery abilities of Pd-FeOx-Y, Pd-FeOx-75 was the optimal choice because it could be magnetically recovered and re-used for multiple cycles with high catalytic activities. The presently developed "catalyst preparation-pollutant degradation" one-pot system could be applied to conduct complete debromination of all the PBDEs.

Efficient oxidative debromination of decabromodiphenyl ether by TiO2-mediated photocatalysis in aqueous environment.

Direct evidence was first demonstrated for the oxidative degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) in aqueous TiO(2) dispersions under UV irradiation (λ > 340 nm). BDE209 was hardly debrominated over TiO(2) in UV-irradiated acetonitrile dispersions, but the addition of water into the dispersions greatly enhanced its photocatalytic oxidative debromination. The debromination efficiency of BDE209 as high as 95.6% was achieved in aqueous TiO(2) dispersions after 12 h of UV irradiation. The photocatalytic oxidation of BDE209 resulted in generation of aromatic ring-opening intermediates such as brominated dienoic acids, which were further degraded by prolonging UV irradiation time. The photocatalytic oxidative debromination of BDE209 was further confirmed by the observation that the BDE209 degradation in water-acetonitrile mixtures with different water contents was positively correlated with the formation of •OH radicals, but not photogenerated electrons. The use of water not only avoided the scavenging of reactive radicals by organic solvent but also enhanced the adsorption of BDE209 on the surface of TiO(2), both of which favor the contact of BDE209 with photogenerated holes and •OH species. The confirmation of efficient oxidative degradation and debromination of BDE209 is very important for finding new ways to remove polybrominated diphenyl ethers from the environment.

Efficient visible light photo-fenton-like degradation of organic pollutants using in situ surface-modified BiFeO3 as a catalyst.

The visible light photo-Fenton-like catalytic performance of BiFeO3 nanoparticles was investigated using Methyl Violet (MV), Rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol as probes. Under optimum conditions, the pseudo first-order rate constant (k) was determined to be 2.21 x 10(-2), 5.56 x 10(-2) and 2.01 x 10(-2) min(-1) for the degradation of MV (30 micromol/L), RhB (10 micromol/L) and phenol (3 mmol/L), respectively, in the BiFeO3-H2O2-visible light (Vis) system. The introduction of visible light irradiation increased the k values of MV, RhB and phenol degradation 3.47, 1.95 and 2.07 times in comparison with those in dark. Generally, the k values in the BiFeO3-H2O2-Vis system were accelerated by increasing BiFeO3 load and H2O2 concentration, but decreased with increasing initial pollutant concentration. To further enhance the degradation of pollutants at high concentrations, BiFeO3 was modified with the addition of surface modifiers. The addition of ethylenediamineteraacetic acid (EDTA, 0.4 mmol/L) increased the k value of MV degradation (60 micromol/L) from 1.01 x 10(-2) min(-1) in the BiFeO3-H2O2-Vis system to 1.30 min(-1) in the EDTA-BiFeO3-H2O2-Vis system by a factor of 128. This suggests that in situ surface modification can enable BiFeO3 nano-particles to be a promising visible light photo-Fenton-like catalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants.

Mechanochemical Preparation of Edge-Selectively justify Hydroxylated Graphene Nanosheets Using Persulfate via a Sulfate Radical-Mediated Process.

The production of water-dispersed graphene with low defects remains a challenge. The dry ball milling of graphite with additives produces edge-selectively functionalized graphene. However, the "inert" additives require a long milling time and cause inevitable in-plane defects. Here, the mechanochemical reaction of graphite with persulfate solved the above drawback and produced edge-selectively hydroxylated graphene (EHG) nanosheets through a 2 h ball-milling and a subsequent 0.5 h sonication. The mechanochemical cleavage of persulfate yielded SO4 ⋅- to spontaneously oxidize graphite to form the carbon radical cations selectively at edges, followed by hydroxylation with water of moisture. Because the O-O bond dissociation energy of persulfate is 20 % of the graphitic C-C bond, the rather low milling energy allowed the hydroxylation of graphite at edges with nearly no in-plane defects. The obtained EHG showed high water-dispersibility and excellent photothermal and electrochemical properties, thereby opening up a new door to fabricate graphene-based composites.

Complete mechanochemical defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid using Al2O3 and Al powders through matching electron-mediated reduction with decarboxylation.

This work reports a mechanochemical (MC) method for complete defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by using Al and Al2O3 as milling agents. Both the Al/Al2O3 molar ratio ( [Formula: see text] ) and the pre-thermal treatment of Al2O3 strongly influenced the defluorination of PFOA. When commercial γ-Al2O3 was pre-treated at 1200 °C, the use of Al and heat-treated γ-Al2O3 with [Formula: see text] of 1: 1 led to PFOA defluorination of 100% after ball milling for 26 min at 350 rpm, being much higher than those (8.3%-58.1%) for using singlet milling agents or binary milling agents containing γ-Al2O3 pre-heated at temperatures lower than 700 °C. It was clarified that the carboxylate-mediated adsorption of PFOA on Al2O3 was essential for the MC decarboxylation as a degradation initiation step, and the in-situ generated electron on milled Al consequently caused the reductive dissociation of C-F bonds in the decarboxylation intermediate. A larger [Formula: see text] increased the in-situ electron generation rate (re), and a higher heat-treatment temperature decreased OH-/H2O adsorbed on Al2O3 to low the PFOA decarboxylation rate (rdec). The re/rdec ratio determined defluorination pathways, and the percentage of the defluorination of PFOA in its total degradation including the generation of any degradation intermediates increased linearly with increasing re/rdec.

Spectrophotometric determination of persulfate by oxidative decolorization of azo dyes for wastewater treatment.

Persulfate can efficiently decolorize azo dyes through oxidizing these compounds, which enabled us to develop a method of rapid spectrophotometric determination of persulfate for monitoring the wastewater treatment on the basis of the oxidation decolorization of azo dyes. Four azo dyes with different molecular structures were investigated as probes, and the influences of operation parameters including reaction time, solution pH, initial dye concentration, and initial concentration of activator Fe(2+) were checked on the determination of persulfate. Under optimum conditions, the decolorization degree of the dyes responded linearly with persulfate concentration for all the four azo dyes, and the linear range and detection limit were found to be 2.0-150 µmol L(-1) and 0.62 µmol L(-1) for rhodamine B, 2.0-100 µmol L(-1) and 0.42 µmol L(-1) for methylene blue, 4.0-150 µmol L(-1) and 0.50 µmol L(-1) for methyl violet, and 20-150 µmol L(-1) and 8.1 µmol L(-1) for orange II. A persulfate treatment of a spiked wastewater sample was satisfactorily monitored with the new method.

Predicting adsorption of micropollutants on non-functionalized and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes: Experimental study and LFER modeling.

It is of great importance to predict the adsorption of micropollutants onto CNTs, which is not only useful for exploring their potential adsorbent applications, but also helpful for better understanding their fate and risks in aquatic environments. This study experimentally examined the adsorption affinities of thirty-one micropollutants on four multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) with different functional groups (non-functionalized, -COOH, -OH, and -NH2). The properties of each adsorbent were predicted based on the linear free energy relationship (LFER) model. The experimental results showed that MWCNTs-COOH has remarkable adsorption affinities for positively charged compounds (1.996-3.203 log unit), whereas MWCNTs-NH2 has high adsorption affinities for negatively charged compounds (1.360-3.073 log unit). Regarding neutral compounds, there was no significant difference in adsorption affinities of all types of CNTs. According to modeling results, the adsorption affinity can be accurately predicted using LFER models with R2 in the range of 0.81-0.91. Based on the developed models, the adsorption mechanism and contribution of individual intermolecular interactions to the overall adsorption were interpreted. For non-functionalized MWCNTs, molecular interactions induced by molecular volume and H-bonding basicity predominantly contribute to adsorption, whereas for functionalized MWCNTs, the Coulombic interaction due to the charges is an important factor.