Properties of various carbon nanomaterial surfaces in bilirubin adsorption.

Properties of various carbon nanomaterials in bilirubin adsorption have been studied to develop a new adsorbent in the plasma apheresis. Carbon nanomaterials we used as adsorbents are single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWNHs). The adsorbent was mixed with a bilirubin solution, and the adsorption capacity was obtained by measuring the concentrations of residual bilirubin in the solution after the adsorption process. We found that the bundled MWCNTs exhibit the largest capacity in the saturated amount of adsorbed bilirubin among the examined materials, and that the oxidized SWNHs exhibit the fastest rate in the early stage of the adsorption. We also found that the amount of adsorbed bilirubin increases with an increase in the dispersibility of the adsorbent.