Preparation of acrylic acid modified alkalized MXene adsorbent and study on its dye adsorption performance

A novel AA-alk-MXene adsorbent was prepared by grafting acrylic acid (AA) onto alkalized single/few layers of MXene nanosheets for removing dyes from wastewater. The results of XRD, XPS, TG and Raman confirmed the successful grafting of AA onto the alkalized MXene nanosheets. A series of adsorption experiments were used to study the adsorption of AA-alk-MXene for the anionic dye congo red (CR) and cationic dye methylene blue (MB). Effects of AA dosage, contact time, initial dye concentration, temperature and pH for adsorption process were studied. The adsorption data shows that the adsorption process followed pseudo second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm adsorption model. It was found that the maximum adsorption capacity of 2 ml AA modified sample for CR and MB was 264.46 mg/g and 193.92 mg/g, respectively. Meanwhile, the experiment also studied the adsorption mechanism of AA-alk-MXene. Electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonding and interlayer force may be the main driving force for adsorption.