In situ synthesis of novel peroxo-functionalized Ti3C2Tx adsorbent for aqueous pollutants removal: Role of oxygen-containing terminal groups

A novel peroxo-functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x adsorbent with abundant surface termination groups was facilely prepared in situ to remove aqueous anionic and cationic dyes. The adsorption behavior of methylene blue on peroxo-functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x was systematically investigated by adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics. Compared with Ti 3 C 2 T x , the adsorption capacities of peroxo-functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x for cationic dyes methylene blue (558.0 mg g −1 ), rhodamine B (524.6 mg g −1 ) and anionic dyes methyl orange (292.6 mg g −1 ), congo red (258.2 mg g −1 ) were increased at room temperature without adjustment of pH, background ions and humic acid , etc of the contaminant solution by 7.9, 5.3, 5.9 and 4.6 times, respectively. In addition, peroxo-functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x could well tolerate the effects of pH, ionic strength, and humic acid. As revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the adsorption mechanism of peroxo-functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x for anionic and cationic dyes was mainly attributed to the electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding interaction, and noncovalent surface-π attraction interaction. This study demonstrates a facile modification strategy for Ti 3 C 2 T x adsorbent materials and aims to provide insights for the development of excellent Ti 3 C 2 T x -based adsorbent materials.