Remediation of Hazardous Pollutants via MXenes‐Based Smart Materials

At present time necessity regards the development of smart materials which have novel structures and advanced functional groups for the treatment of hazardous pollutants exhibited in the environment. Environmental pollution has intensified due to the outbreak of increasing population and industrialization, so it has become imperative to manufacture excellent materials for the removal of hazardous pollutants. Many novel structures with their characteristic features as metal oxide, polymers, nanomaterials, nanoparticles (NPs), composite, bionanomaterials, graphene, polymeric membrane, and MXenes are widely applicable for the disintegration of environmental pollutants. These MXenes have a two-dimensional (2D) metal carbide and nitride with negatively charged surfaces, hydrophilicity and excellent ability of ion capturing, which enable the separation of lethal radioactive metals, heavy metals, and synthetic dyes. During the synthesis of MXene-related adsorbent many factors such as interlayer regulation, chemical conversion, and surface modification, enhances its characteristic property. Several interactions are may possible to bind the pollutants with the MXenes in form of inner-sphere coordination, ion exchange, and reduction immobilization, which are summarized and discussed. This chapter provides the systematic study of the preparation of MXenes-related smart materials and its wide application in the field of removal of hazardous ions like heavy metal, dyes, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), Phenolic organic contaminants (POCs) and radionuclides from aqueous systems. Additionally, it may provide new insights towards the next generation of smart materials for purification.