Low cost MXene synthesis for regenerative adsorption of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX)

MXenes, a group of emerging 2D metal carbides with unique properties and expanding potential applications, have attracted researchers’ interests. However, high synthesis costs and safety concerns have imposed limitations on their research and development. Here, we report a low-cost and safer synthesis method for a titanium-MXene, which we then test for its efficacy as an adsorbent for organics contamination in water. For the synthesis, we examine how different carbon forms (graphite and activated charcoal (AC)) impact the MXene properties and application. Instead of expensive and high-risk pure titanium as a precursor, cheap and easy-to-handle titanium oxide was used, while achieving lower-temperature synthesis through the molten-salt shielded synthesis approach. The resulting 3D MAX phases were separately etched into 2D-MXenes and characterized extensively. The synthesised MXenes were tested as adsorbents in adsorption experiments under various conditions. The data obtained were fitted to isotherm and kinetic models to understand the adsorption mechanisms. Although the AC-based MXene exhibited a much larger BET surface area compared to the graphite-based MXene (24 m2/g vs 2 m2/g respectively), other characterization results indicated that both materials had remarkably similar morphological and functional properties. Additionally, both MXenes effectively removed at least 80 % of the initial contaminant concentration. However, AC-based MXene is cheaper to produce and demonstrated superior regenerative capabilities over three cycles of regeneration and reuse. Also, its reuse potential is less affected by oxidation during the regeneration process. This study concludes that MXenes can be synthesized at a lower cost and highlights the crucial role of the carbon form used in synthesis for the MXene subsequent application. Specifically, AC-based MXenes show great potential for clean water recovery applications and could be a good candidate for analytical chemistry purposes.