Spongy porous CuFe Prussian blue deposited MXene nanosheets for quick removal of cesium ions from wastewater and seawater

The radioactive 137Cs is hazardous to human health and the environment once it is released into the environment due to its high radioactivity and solubility. Here, CuFe Prussian blue deposited MXene nanosheets (CuFe/MXene) was successfully prepared and used to capture Cs(I) ions from wastewater and seawater. Among them, spongy porous CuFe/MXene-2 can, not only facilitate the diffusion and adsorption of Cs(I) ions, but also avoid the stacking and agglomeration of CuFe, thus improving the effective utilization rate of CuFe. Consequently, CuFe/MXene-2 can remove up to 88.2% of Cs(I) ions within 3 min and reach the adsorption equilibrium of Cs(I) ions within 20 min with the maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of 326.8 mg/g. Additionally, the removal rate of Cs(I) by CuFe/MXene-2 can reach up to 90% even in 0.5 M HNO3 solution and Cs(I) spiked seawater containing various competitive cations. More importantly, CuFe/MXene-2 can efficiently and selectively adsorb Cs(I) ions with excellent reusability.