Advisory Committee Chair
Claudiu T Lungu
Advisory Committee Members
Elizabeth H Maples
Julia M Gohlke
Giuseppe L Squadrito
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2013
Degree Name by School
Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) School of Public Health
Abstract
Passive air sampling is the preferred method of air sampling for many applications. Traditionally, this method uses activated charcoal as the sorbent and samples are analyzed by chemical or thermal desorption. This research explores the use of carbon nanotubes in the form of a felt as a sorbent for passive sampling by comparing the mass uptake and percent yield to that of the 3MTM Organic Vapor Monitor (OVM) 3500 over four time trials. The desorption efficiency, adsorption capacity, and mass uptake of the fabricated felts are very similar to the 3MTM OVM 3500. It was expected that the fabricated felts and 3Ms would perform similarly. The 30-minute and 120-minute time trials are not significantly different (p = .37, .1 respectively). The 60-minute and 240-minute time trials are significantly different with felts collecting more mass than the 3MTMs (p = .02, .04 respectively). Overall, the adsorp-tion rate between these two materials is similar. Felts fabricated with a larger mass should have similar sampling capacity to standard passive samplers.
Recommended Citation
Connell, Samantha, "Comparison Of Fabricated Carbon Nanotube Sorbent Felts And 3M Charcoal Sorbent Wafers To Assess Passive Sampling" (2013). All ETDs from UAB. 1408.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/1408