The utilization of Ti3CN enhances the efficiency of Se(Ⅳ) removal through a synergistic adsorption-reduction mechanism

Owing to industrialization, the increased generation of electronic waste, and intensified metal ore and coal extraction activities, certain geographical areas are currently confronted with widespread selenium contamination in their groundwater. Consequently, there has been a considerable surge of interest in exploring techniques for selenium removal. In this study, we propose the utilization of single-layer dispersion of Ti 3 CN to facilitate the elimination of Se(Ⅳ). The results of the spectral analysis demonstrated that the removal of Se(Ⅳ) using Ti 3 CN occurs via a combined process of adsorption and reduction reactions. These two substances collaborated to create an inner sphere complex, which facilitated the reduction of Se(Ⅳ) to Se(0), ultimately resulting in the rapid formation of a co-precipitation product. The experimental results show that the adsorption capacity of Ti 3 CN for Se(Ⅳ) was notably sensitive to pH value, showing an adsorption capacity of 871.2 mg/g at pH 2. Furthermore, it was noted that the experimental results conformed well to the quasi-second-order kinetic model, with the Langmuir model effectively representing the adsorption isotherm data of Se(Ⅳ). This indicates that the process of Se(Ⅳ) removal by Ti 3 CN operates through chemical monolayer homogeneous adsorption. Notably, the presence of multiple ions revealed that only a selected few ions were able to impede the elimination of Se(Ⅳ). These findings underscore the potential of Ti 3 CN MXene as an efficient agent for treating selenium-containing wastewater.