Partial Oxidation Strategy to Synthesize WS2/WO3 Heterostructure with Enhanced Adsorption Performance for Organic Dyes: Synthesis, Modelling, and Mechanism

Abstract

In this work, a facile oxidation strategy was developed to prepare novel tungsten disulfide/tungsten trioxide (WS2/WO3) heterostructures for adsorbing organic dyes efficiently by combining the hydrophilic property of WO3 and the superior dye affinity of WS2. The structural and elemental properties of the synthesized hybrid materials were systematically investigated, and the results demonstrated the retained flower-like morphology of the primitive WS2 and the successful introduction of WO3. Furthermore, surface properties such as a superior hydrophilicity and negative-charged potential were also demonstrated by a water contact angle characterization combined with a Zeta potential analysis. The performance of the obtained WS2/WO3 hybrid materials for removing Rhodamine B (RhB) from wastewater was evaluated. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of the newly synthesized material could reach 237.1 mg/g. Besides, the adsorption isotherms were also simulated by a statistical physics monolayer model, which revealed the non-horizontal orientation of adsorbates and endothermic physical interaction. Finally, the adsorption mechanism and the recyclability revealed that the partial oxidation strategy could contribute to a higher adsorption capacity by modulating the surface properties and could be applied as a highly efficient strategy to design other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) heterostructures for removing organic dyes from wastewater.

Acid Dye Removal from Aqueous Solution by Using Neodymium(III) Oxide Nanoadsorbents

“…Therefore, wastewaters containing this type of dyes were highlighted as one of the most important threatening factors in environmental and public health [2,5]. Different studies have reported that there are several methods for removing dyes from textile wastewaters, including the application of photodecomposition [6], electrolysis [7,8], adsorption [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], oxidation [19], biodegradation [20], combined sonochemical and adsorption [21], coagulation-flocculation [22,23], etc.…”

Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for the Application of Pollution Reduction: A Review

“…Among wastewater treatment technologies, the adsorption is considered the most inexpensive, fast and simple operation method [182]. Recently, researchers are focusing on the application of TMDC-based material in adsorption technology.…”

“…Li et al [ 187 ] stated that the application of MoS 2 adsorbent can increase the adsorption capacity in removing organic dye. An alternative facile oxidation strategy was proposed by Li et al [ 182 ] to synthesize tungsten disulphide/tungsten trioxide (WS 2 /WO 3 ) heterostructures to remove RhB molecules from wastewater (see Figure 6 a). This strategy has contributed to higher adsorption capacity through manipulating the surface property.…”

“… ( a ) Facile oxidation strategy to prepare a flower-like WS 2 /WO 3 heterostructure for adsorbing RhB from wastewater (Reproduced with permission from [ 182 ]. Copyright 2020 MDPI AG CC-BY 4.0).…”

Aerobic Oil-Phase Cyclic Magnetic Adsorption to Synthesize 1D Fe2O3@TiO2 Nanotube Composites for Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Degradation

“…In recent years, water pollution has become an international environmental problem that constricts the development of human health, economy and sustainability [ 1 , 2 ]. To solve this problem, various efficient technologies have been developed and employed to purify wastewater, such as photocatalysis, adsorption, chemical precipitation, and membrane filtration [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Among them, photocatalysis has been regarded as a promising approach due to its convenient operation, effective remediation and low environmental impacts [ 7 , 8 ].…”