Amino-functionalized 3D crosslinked Ti3C2Tx nanosheets for highly efficient UO22+ and ReO4− immobilization simultaneously from aqueous solutions

Construction of the multifunctional Ti3C2Tx for efficient extraction of radioactive metal cations and anions from radioactive waste simultaneously remained challenging. Decorating Ti3C2Tx into multifunctional materials with controllable and desired properties was an efficient strategy for eliminating UO22+ and ReO4−. In this work, a novel amino-functionalized 3D crosslinked Ti3C2Tx nanosheets (N-CTC) were designed by covalent bonding crosslinking method, followed by a facile hard template to prevent the delamination Ti3C2Tx nanosheets from stacking. Introducing amino functional groups and adjusting surface charge of N-CTC considerably enhances the removal of simultaneously UO22+ and ReO4− from aqueous solutions. Impressively, N-CTC exhibited the exceptional trapping capacities toward UO22+ (550.71 mg/g) and ReO4− (105.01 mg/g), which were significantly superior than that of the pristine Ti3C2Tx nanosheets. More importantly, N-CTC also possessed fast rapidly and recyclable UO22+/ReO4− extraction in different artificial water samples. The elimination mechanism was clearly visualized by spectral analysis, uncovering UO22+ removal was abided by chelation effect, whereas the ReO4− adsorption was determined by both inner-sphere complexation and electrostatic interaction. The present results illustrate an effective strategy to design functionalized 3D crosslinked Ti3C2Tx nanosheets with effectively extraction of radioactive metal cations and anions from wastewater.