Synthesis of 2D material based Bi2O3/MXene nanohybrids and their applications for the removal of industrial effluents

Abstract

2D material-based Bi2O3/MXene nanohybrids were successfully fabricated through an ultrasonication method. MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheets were prepared via simple H.F. etching while bismuth oxide nanoflowers were prepared by the co-precipitation method. The structure, morphologies, and optical properties of all the prepared samples were analyzed by various advance techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). To check the photocatalytic efficiency of prepared material was performed for both colored and colorless dyes. A significant increase in photocatalytic properties were observed for methylene blue and benzoic acid. The prepared nanohybrid showed 1.6 folds higher efficiency than bismuth oxide nanopetals. The relatively higher utilization efficiency of sunlight and the rapid separation rate of photogenerated electron and hole pairs helped to enhance the photocatalytic performance synergistically. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of all samples was also carried out using the disc diffusion method against K. pneumonia and S. aureus. Improved properties could be attributed to an increase in d-spacing of 2D MXene layers by inserting nanopetals which reduced the restacking of MXene layers. Furthermore, multiple functional groups on the surface of MXene will also play an important role in enhancing the properties of its nanohybrids. We expect that the as-synthesized nanohybrid will attract researchers’ attentions for the degradation of industrial pollutants.