Facile synthesis of a sandwiched Ti3C2Tx MXene/nZVI/fungal hypha nanofiber hybrid membrane for enhanced removal of Be(II) from Be(NH2)2 complexing solutions

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2021-10, Vol.421, Article 129682
• Main Authors: Chen, Runhua, Cheng, Yuying, Wang, Ping, Wang, Yangyang, Wang, Qingwei, Yang, Zhihui, Tang, Congjian, Xiang, Siyuan, Luo, Siyuan, Huang, Shunhong, Su, Changqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Be(NH2)2; Beryllium; Metal complex; MXene; Resourcization
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2021.129682

[Display omitted] •MXene/nZVI@FH was prepared to remove Be(II) from Be(NH2)2 complexing solutions.•MXene/nZVI@FH permeability (6.1 × 10−15 m2) was 301 times higher than that of MXene.•MXene/nZVI@FH exhibited a high Be sorption capacity for aqueous Be(NH2)2.•OH radicals generated by MXene/nZVI@FH were enhanced in acidic aerobic aqueous.•MXene/nZVI@FH had good selectivity for beryllium. Two-dimensional metal carbides or nitrides (MXenes) demonstrate various excellent properties; however, their poor permeability precludes their application in water treatment. In this study, Ti3C2Tx MXene/nZVI/fungal hyphae nanofiber hybrid membranes (MXene/nZVI@FH) were prepared by chemical-intensive precipitation method for the robust capture of Be(II) from a beryllium-ammonia complexing solution. Interestingly, the MXene/nZVI@FH membrane showed favorable water permeability (6.10 × 10−15 m2), which was approximately 301 times higher than that of a pure Ti3C2Tx membrane, and 99.8% Be(II) was captured from the Be(NH2)2 complexing solution with an extremely low concentration (19.85 ppm). Specifically, the maximum Be(II) adsorption capacity of MXene/nZVI@FH was calculated to be 95.20 mg/g from the Be(NH2)2 complexing solution at pH 5.0 and 35 °C. Various characterization results (e.g., SEM, FTIR, XRD, VSM and XPS) suggested that Be(II) prefers to coordinate with surface oxygen groups bonded to the MXene nanosheets by forming BeO and BeO22− bidentate inner-sphere complexes. Furthermore, due to its reticular sandwiched structure, MXene/nZVI@FH could be easily activated and reused by leaching with 0.1 M HCl solution. Thus, it is a promising hybrid membrane for the removal and recovery of Be(II) from a Be(NH2)2 complexing solution.