Engineered MXene/Bi₂S₃ nanoflowers in sodium alginate hydrogel: A synergistic eradicator of disinfected byproducts in aqueous environment

In this work, Bi₂S₃ nanoflowers were in situ anchored on the surface of Ti₃C₂ via a hydrothermal process to obtain MXene-supported Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite, then incorporated inside in sodium alginate polymer to prepared hydrogel materials (Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H) which outperforms and have an excellent capability for the removal of pollutants like disinfected byproducts. The synthesized hydrogel material Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H may be utilized for a variety of functional materials in environmental applications. Furthermore, the Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H was characterized by SEM, EDX, XRD, BET, AFM, FTIR, Zeta potential, XPS, Raman and TGA. Remarkably, Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H hydrogel 0.007 cm³ g^-1, 159.5 nm and 0.0017 cm³ g^-1, 160.5 nm materials exhibited the highest average pore diameter. The research focused on evaluating the adsorption capability of Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H hydrogel materials for 2,6-dibromo-4-nitrophenol (DBNP), 2,4,6-triiodophenol (TIP), 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol (TCP) and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol (DCNP). The findings indicated that the material exhibited the eradication efficiency of about 662, 657, 647 and 617 mg/g from DBNP, TIP, TCP and DCNP respectively. Several adsorption isotherms were extensively examined, encompassing the Temkin, Langmuir and Freundlich models, alongside pseudo-first and second-order models. The Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models showed the highest degree of consistency with the observed data. Concerning regeneration and reusability, the materials demonstrated easy regeneration and effective recyclability over the course of 10 cycles. The notable adsorption capacity, coupled with the innovative combination of Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃ and polymer hydrogel, along with its recyclability, positions our material Ti₃C₂/Bi₂S₃@SA-H as a highly prospective competitors for wastewater treatment and other critical areas in water research.