Efficient adsorption and removal mechanism of 2,4-dichlorophenol by MoS2@C6H12O6 floral activated carbon with intercalated structure

Activated carbon particles are obtained through hydrotherm, alkali activation, and oxygen-limited carbonization stages. Flower-like carbon spheres with MoS2-C-MoS2 intercalation structure are prepared using glucose as the carbon source and molybdenum disulfide as the substrate. Carbon spheres activated by different masses of the alkali exhibit excellent adsorption properties. The adsorption behavior of the carbon spheres is fitted to the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, and the adsorption process is monolayer chemisorption. Hydrothermal carbon: KOH (m:m) = 1:1, solution pH = 7, T = 25 °C, and a dosage of 0.03 g are the optimum conditions. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for 2,4-dichlorophenol is 354.5 mg·g−1. Thermodynamic experiments show that the adsorption behavior can proceed spontaneously. Moreover, after six cycles of adsorption, 80% of the sulfur and nitrogen groups in the carbon layer remained effective. FTIR, XPS and XRD analyses show the presence of hydrogen bonding, π-π bonding, and electrostatic forces on 2,4- dichlorophenol by the adsorbent.