Synthesis of FeOCl-MoS2 with excellent adsorption performance for methyl orange

Abstract FeOCl-MoS 2 was synthesized via calcination, which possessed excellent adsorption performance for methyl orange (MO). The characterization results showed that the FeOCl-MoS 2 was formed between MoS 2 and FeOCl phases, while a remarkable improvement in specific surface area and porosity was obtained in comparison with pure FeOCl and MoS 2 . The adsorption experiment results showed that the adsorption capacity of MO dye at 25 °C could reach 1615.11 mg/g. In addition, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R 2  > 0.99) has a good applicability to describe the adsorption of MO onto FeOCl-MoS 2 . Langmuir isotherm model (R 2  > 0.99) can describe the adsorption process well, proving that the adsorption is surface-controlled monolayer adsorption. Thermodynamic analyses showed the adsorption is an exothermic process and has spontaneity in nature. The adsorption of MO onto FeOCl-MoS 2 is attributed to electrostatic interaction. In particular, the adsorption capacity could still reach 82.1% of the initial adsorption capacity by alkali washing after five cycles. Hence, this study reveals that FeOCl-MoS 2 could be a high-efficient adsorbent for dyes removal from wastewaters. Graphical abstract