Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have aroused widespread attention as a new type of adsorbents due
to their outstanding ability for oil adsorption. In this work, the effects of recycling method, different types oil, metal
ions and surfactants on the adsorption capacity and reuse performance of MWCNTs were investigated. The results
showed that with the increase of the number of reuse, oil adsorption ability of MWCNTs decreased and stabilized
gradually. Through the study on the methods of oil removing from MWCNTs and re-adsorption performance of
MWCNTs, it was found that the re-adsorption capacity of incinerated MWCNTs is higher than those extruded ones.
This may due to the destruction of the gap between carbon nanotubes during the extrusion process, which leading to
lower oil adsorption capacity. The oil adsorption capacity on the extruded MWCNTs increased with the increase of
carbon chain length of the oil, while that on the incinerated ones decreased. With the existing of mental ions and
surfactant, it was found that the oil adsorption capacity increased with the increasing of ions and surfactant
concentration.