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Mercury removal from aqueous solution using petal-like MoS2 nanosheets

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Abstract

Recently, different nanomaterial-based adsorbents have received greater attention for the removal of environmental pollutants, specifically heavy metals from aqueous media. In this work, we synthesized few-layered MoS2 nanosheets via a surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method and utilized them as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of mercury from aqueous media. The synthesized MoS2 nanosheets showed petal-like morphology as confirmed by scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscopic analysis. The average thickness of the nanosheets is found to be about 57 nm. Possessing high stability and negative zeta potential makes this material suitable for efficient adsorption of mercury from aqueous media. The adsorption efficiency of the adsorbent was investigated as a function of pH, contact time and adsorbent dose. The kinetics of adsorption and reusability potential of the adsorbent were also performed. A pseudo-second-order kinetics for mercury adsorption was observed. As prepared MoS2 nanosheets showed 93% mercury removal efficiency, whereas regenerated adsorbent showed 91% and 79% removal efficiency in the respective 2nd and 3rd cycles. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was found to be 289 mg/g at room temperature.

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Acknowledgements

The research was financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology, India under Water Technology Initiative scheme (DST/TM/WTI/2K16/258(C)). The authors SA & MA thank MHRD, New Delhi for sanctioning them a joint Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration project (SPARC/2018-2019/P236/SL). The author Abdallah extend his appreciation to The Researchers supporting project (RSP-2020/56), King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

    Ragini Pirarath & Sambandam Anandan

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

    Palani Shivashanmugam

  3. Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Asad Syed & Abdallah M. Elgorban

  4. School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, 3010, Australia

    Muthupandian Ashokkumar

Authors
  1. Ragini Pirarath
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  2. Palani Shivashanmugam
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  3. Asad Syed
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  4. Abdallah M. Elgorban
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  5. Sambandam Anandan
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  6. Muthupandian Ashokkumar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sambandam Anandan.

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Highlights

• Synthesized few-layered MoS2 nanosheets via surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method.

• Synthesized MoS2 nanosheets show petal-like morphology.

• Adsorbent showed 93% of mercury removal efficiency.

• The adsorption of mercury is attributed to negative zeta potential (-21.8 mV).

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Pirarath, R., Shivashanmugam, P., Syed, A. et al. Mercury removal from aqueous solution using petal-like MoS2 nanosheets. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 15 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1307-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1307-0

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