Selective and Efficient Removal of Radioactive Cesium and Iodine Using Mxene/Agnws Composite Material in Contaminated Water

In this study a composite of MXene/AgNWs has been synthesized and used as an efficient adsorbent for simultaneous removal of iodide (Iˉ) and cesium (Cs+) ions from contaminated water. MXene/AgNWs composite demonstrated excellent adsorption capacities of 84.70 and 26.22 mg/g for iodine and cesium ions, respectively. The Freundlich isotherm model confirmed multilayer adsorption of Cs+ ions due to an inter-lamellar structures and heterogeneous adsorption sites of MXene. The Iodide ions adsorption can be explained by the Langmuir isotherm model where the interaction of iodide ions with silver nanowires is chemisorption and follows a monolayer adsorption mechanism. MXene/AgNWs composite material showed promising results in the presence of competitive ions and under extreme pH conditions. It is anticipated that excellent adsorption properties of MXene/AgNWs composite might be due to synergic effects of lamellar structures of MXene, presence of heterogeneous surface functional groups, surface complexation and electrostatic interaction with AgNWs. Overall MXene/AgNWs composite material is proved to be an efficient adsorbing material for selective and simultaneous removal of cesium and iodide ions from aqueous media.