Effect of different carbon nanotubes on cadmium toxicity to Daphnia magna: The role of catalyst impurities and adsorption capacity

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of four different carbon nanotubes single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and MWCNTs) and hydroxylated and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (OH-MWCNTs and COOH-MWCNTs) on Cd toxicity to the aquatic organism Daphnia magna . The acute toxicity results indicated that all CNTs could enhance the toxicity of Cd to D. magna . Furthermore, the filtrate toxicity and adsorption tests showed that the toxicity-increasing effect of SWCNTs and MWCNTs in the overall system was mainly caused by catalysts impurities from the pristine CNTs, whereas the greater adsorption of Cd onto OH-MWCNTs (30.52 mg/g) and COOH-MWCNTs (24.93 mg/g) was the key factor contributing to the enhanced toxicity. This result raised a concern that the metal catalyst impurities, adsorption capacities, and accumulation of waterborne CNTs were responsible for the toxicity of Cd to aquatic organism.