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Microstructure and surface control of MXene films for water purification

Nature Sustainability volume 2, pages 856–862 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Heavy metal ions (HMIs), such as those containing chromate and arsenic, are toxic and need to be removed from drinking water to protect public health. Films based on two-dimensional materials are promising regarding the removal of HMIs from water, but they typically use pressure-driven filtration. This study reports the application of two-dimensional titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx MXene)-based films for pressure-free removal of multiple negatively and positively charged HMIs from water. The Ti3C2Tx MXene-based film’s microstructure was optimized by insertion of reduced graphene oxide between the layers, and the film’s surface was progressively hydroxylated to increase the accessibility of Ti3C2Tx, improve the film’s wettability and enhance the adsorption and reduction of HMIs. These steps synergistically improved the film’s HMI removal efficiency. This study provides a straightforward paradigm to manipulate the pivotal solid–liquid interactions for water purification under pressure-free conditions using two-dimensional materials-based films. Moreover, it could open a new vista of rationally designed, versatile, Ti3C2Tx-based films for target applications.

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Fig. 1: Fabrication of Ti3C2Tx-based films.
Fig. 2: Morphology and surface properties of Ti3C2Tx-based films.
Fig. 3: Performance of Ti3C2Tx-based films in pressure-free removal of HMIs.
Fig. 4: Characterizations and computational investigation of HCrO4− removal for HRM.
Fig. 5: Schematic illustration of pressure-free water purification by HMR.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

Support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U1463204, 51802040, 21872029, 21802020 and 21173045), the Award Program for Minjiang Scholar Professorship, the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province for Distinguished Young Investigator Rolling Grant (No. 2017J07002), the Independent Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment (No. 2014A05) and the First Program of Fujian Province for Top Creative Young Talents is gratefully acknowledged. Computational resources were provided by Intelligent Electronics Institute, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China

    Xiuqiang Xie, Nan Zhang & Yi-Jun Xu

  2. College of Chemistry, New Campus, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China

    Xiuqiang Xie, Nan Zhang, Zi-Rong Tang & Yi-Jun Xu

  3. School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Chi Chen & Jianjun Jiang

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Contributions

Y.-J.X., Z.-R.T. and X.X. conceived and designed this work. X.X. conducted the experiments. C.C. and J.J. performed the computational investigations. N.Z. conducted SEM and N2 adsorption–desorption analysis. X.X. and Y.-J.X. wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors participated in discussion and reviewed the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Yi-Jun Xu.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–22, Tables 1 and 2, Notes and refs. 1–5.

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Xie, X., Chen, C., Zhang, N. et al. Microstructure and surface control of MXene films for water purification. Nat Sustain 2, 856–862 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0373-4

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