A nanocubicle-like 3D adsorbent fabricated by in situ growth of 2D heterostructures for removal of aromatic contaminants in water

Junjie Xu; Chao Zhu; Shuang Song; Qile Fang; Jingkai Zhao; Yi Shen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127004

A nanocubicle-like 3D adsorbent fabricated by in situ growth of 2D heterostructures for removal of aromatic contaminants in water

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Feb 5;423(Pt A):127004. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127004. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Authors

Junjie Xu¹, Chao Zhu¹, Shuang Song¹, Qile Fang², Jingkai Zhao¹, Yi Shen³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China.
² Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China. Electronic address: shenyi@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 34482074
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127004

Abstract

Focusing on the emergence of organic pollutants in aqueous environments, attempts to assemble two-dimensional (2D) materials into three-dimensional (3D) structures are expected to improve their pollution control performance. However, most 3D heterostructural nanomaterials are constructed by mechanical mixing methods, which result in structures that are randomly arranged and prone to collapse. Two typical 2D carbon materials, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs), have exhibited excellent effects in the fields of contaminant adsorption and photocatalysis, respectively. However, their regular packing structure could not provide an interconnected pore network suitable for the diffusion or adsorption of pollutants. In this study, a series of heterostructures named rGCs were fabricated by direct growth of 2D CTFs with different ratios on the surface of rGO layers. The rGCs were designed to remove trace concentrations of naphthalene (NAP) and benzophenone (BP) from water, which can be regenerated under sunlight. rGC-20, in which nanocubicle-like 3D heterostructures were successfully constructed, not only adsorbed NAP and BP with superb normalized adsorption capacities (5000-5300 μmol/g) but also could be regenerated with an exceptional percentage recovery of 90-95% in the 4th cycle. The microenvironment created in nanocubicle-like 3D heterostructures enhances the adsorption of pollutants, the excitation of electrons and utilization of radicals, which further promotes the adsorption and photocatalysis of rGCs. This work provides a promising adsorbent with outstanding adsorption-regeneration ability for aromatic contaminant removal from water. DATA AVAILABILITY: The main data that support the findings of this study are available from the article and its Supplementary Information. Extra data are available from the corresponding author on request.

Keywords: A nanocubicle-like 3D adsorbent; Adsorption-photocatalytic activity; Aromatic contaminant removal; In situ growth.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Sunlight
Triazines
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water*

Substances

Triazines
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Water