Ultrasonic degradation of selected dyes using Ti3C2Tx MXene as a sonocatalyst

Byung-Moon Jun; Jonghun Han; Chang Min Park; Yeomin Yoon

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.104993

Ultrasonic degradation of selected dyes using Ti₃C₂T_x MXene as a sonocatalyst

Ultrason Sonochem. 2020 Jun:64:104993. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.104993. Epub 2020 Jan 28.

Authors

Byung-Moon Jun¹, Jonghun Han², Chang Min Park³, Yeomin Yoon⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 300 Main Street, SC 29208, USA.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Army Academy at Youngcheon, 495 Hogook-ro, Gokyungmeon, Youngcheon, Gyeongbuk 38900, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Environmental Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehak-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 300 Main Street, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: yoony@cec.sc.edu.

PMID: 32018135
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.104993

Abstract

MXene, a new family of two dimensional materials, was utilized as a sonocatalyst in an ultrasonic treatment (US) process for removal of methylene blue (MB) and acid blue 80 (AB). The physico-chemical properties of MXene were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, porosimetry, and a zeta potential analyzer. Degradation of dyes by US was systemically investigated under several experimental conditions including: power density of US (45, 90, 135, and 180 W L^-1), frequency of US (28 and 970 kHz), pH of dye solution (3.5, 7, and 10.5), solution temperature (293, 303, and 313 K), and addition of hydroxyl radical promotor (H₂O₂) and scavenger (t-BuOH) to concentrations of 25 mM. Based on the experimental results, the quantity of H₂O₂, which was used as an indicator of hydroxyl radical concentration, was an important factor in determining the degradation rate of MB and AB in this US study. Additionally, synergetic indices for removal of both dyes were higher than 1.0 in all cases, indicating the outstanding efficiency of MXene as a sonocatalyst in the US reactor for removal of both, due to an increase in both (i) the quantity of H₂O₂ in the US reactor and (ii) active sites for adsorbates from dispersion effects. A stability test on MXene in the US process was conducted using X-ray diffraction and five-cycle recycling performance tests. Based on our experimental data, MXene can be utilized as a sonocatalyst in the US process for a high removal rate for dyes (e.g., MB).

Keywords: Acid blue 80; MXene; Methylene blue; Sonocatalytic degradation; Wastewater treatment.