Correlation of electrophoretic mobility with exfoliation of montmorillonite platelets in aqueous solutions

Chitosan-induced self-assembly of montmorillonite nanosheets along the end-face for methylene blue removal from water

In this study, chitosan-induced self-assembly of montmorillonite nanosheets (MMTNS) along the end-face to form the layered and porous structured composite with high adsorption capacity towards MB dye wastewater was investigated. The self-assembly process was driven by the hydrogen-bond interaction among -OH groups distributed along the end-face of MMTNS and -NH₂ groups on chitosan (CS) chain, which finally formed the infinite two-dimensional lamellae. This technology remained the exposed adsorption sites on MMTNS surface, and solved the separation issue of spent MMTNS from water, making MMTNS/CS an excellent adsorption material for macromolecular MB dye. The maximum adsorption capacity of MMTNS/CS towards MB reached 243 mg/g, which was achieved via the Na⁺- exchange, hydrogen-bond and n-π stacking interactions with MB molecules. This work aimed at breaking through the bottleneck of small adsorption capacity of traditional MMT adsorbents, solving the problem of solid-liquid separation of nanosheets, and effectively reducing the adsorption cost, which might guide an important direction for adsorption material design and development in the future.

Inclusion of organic species in exfoliated montmorillonite nanolayers towards hierarchical functional inorganic-organic nanostructures

Montmorillonite (Mt) can readily undergo spontaneous delamination or exfoliation into nanolayers by various physical and chemical processes, which allow various strategies to engineer hierarchical functional inorganic-organic nanostructures. This review aims to discuss the recent progress in the liquid-phase exfoliation of Mt into individual nanolayers and the inclusion chemistry of functional organic species, ions, or molecules into the exfoliated Mt nanolayers to produce hierarchical functional inorganic-organic nanostructures. The exfoliation methods include mechanical force, ultrasonication, and intercalation-assisted exfoliation. Techniques for quickly assessing the quality of the exfoliated Mt nanolayers are still needed. Layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition, template, and evaporation-induced inclusions are examined to fabricate hierarchical Mt-organic species nanocomposites with unique functionalities and properties. The nanocomposites can be produced as multilayered porous films, brick-and-mortar coatings, hydrogels with a house-of-cards structure, core-shell materials, and hollow and mesoporous spherical nanocomposites, which exhibit significant potential for adsorption, catalysis, targeted delivery and controlled drug release, highly sensitive sensors, flame retardant coatings, and thermal energy storage and release (i.e. phase change materials). Finally, the challenges and prospects for the future development of hierarchical nanocomposites of exfoliated Mt nanolayers and organic species, particularly in hierarchical supramolecular nanostructured composites, are highlighted.

Efficient removal of oxytetracycline from aqueous solution using magnetic montmorillonite-biochar composite prepared by one step pyrolysis

Three adsorbents, namely, original biochar (CLB), montmorillonite (MMT)-biochar composite (MBC), and magnetic MMT-biochar composite (MMBC) were successfully fabricated by one step pyrolysis of original cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.) leaves, mixture of cauliflower leaves and MMT, and FeCl₃-laden mixture of cauliflower leaves and MMT under limited oxygen atmosphere, respectively. The characterizations of samples indicated that substantial MMT mineral particles and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle were dispersed on the surface of MMBC. Due to the introduction of Fe₃O₄, MMBC performed excellent magnetization property. The adsorption experiments of oxytetracycline (OTC) indicated that the maximum adsorption ability of MMBC was 58.85 mg·g^-1, which was 2.63 times as large as CLB, also, larger than that of MBC. Meanwhile, pH, ionic strength, and humic acid (HA) performed slight effects for adsorption of OTC on MMBC. In addition, MMBC still removed 92% OTC after five regeneration cycles. Finally, primary mechanisms of OTC adsorption onto MMBC were attributed to hydrogen bonding and π-π reaction, and ion exchange reaction was considered to exist. Meanwhile, functional groups including Si-O-Al, Si-O-Si, Si-O, and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles would provide extra binding sites for OTC adsorption. Therefore, MMBC had an obvious potential to apply into water purification as a reliable, low-cost, and environmentally friendly adsorbent.

Enhancement of cadmium adsorption by EPS-montmorillonite composites

Extracellular polymeric substance (EPS)-mineral associations occur naturally in soil and sediments, and they might play crucial roles in heavy metals immobilization. In this study, EPS-montmorillonite composites with different weight ratios were characterized and investigated for their Cd(II) sorption behavior. The results showed that the EPS chains can intercalate into montmorillonite layers by hydrogen bonding connection and chemical reaction between CO, C-N and COO^- groups with interlayer cations of montmorillonite, therefore promoting delamination of montmorillonite, especially under a lower weight ratio. An enhancement adsorption of heavy metals was obtained with the composites at lower weight ratios of 1:50 and 0.5:50, whereas composites with higher weight ratio of 5:50 presented a reduced adsorption ability, demonstrating that adsorption of Cd(II) onto the EPS-montmorillonite composites was weight ratio dependent. AFM, CLSM, FT-IR and XPS analysis illustrated that the enhancement of sorption under low weight ratio can be attributed to the release of surface active sites of EPS because of reduced aggregation, the increase of negative surface charges when EPS and montmorillonite were interacted and additional bridging of cadmium ions between EPS and montmorillonite. These findings extend the knowledge into the mobility and fate of Cd(II) in organic matter rich soils and sediments.

Preparation of Montmorillonite Nanosheets through Freezing/Thawing and Ultrasonic Exfoliation

The exfoliation of layered montmorillonite (MMT) into mono- or few-layer sheets is of significance for both fundamental studies and potential applications. In this report, exfoliated MMT nanosheets with different aspect ratios have been prepared via a new freezing/thawing-ultrasonic exfoliation method. Freezing/thawing processing can exfoliate MMT tactoids with low efficiency while virtually retaining the original lateral size. The ultrasonic method has better exfoliation efficiency but tends to damage the nanosheets. By combining them and reasonably controlling the cycle index of freezing/thawing and ultrasonic power, the MMT nanosheets with different aspect ratios have been prepared efficiently. Such a unique exfoliation method has broad applicability for layered materials to produce monolayer nanosheets on a large scale.

Development of Copper-Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide in Thin Film Nanocomposite Nanofiltration Membrane for Water Purification Process

This study aims to fabricate a thin film composite (TFC) membrane, modified with copper-aluminium layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanofillers via interfacial polymerization technique for nanofiltration (NF) processes. It was found that Cu-Al LDH nanofillers possessed layered structured materials with typical hexagonal plate-like shape and positive surface charge. The study revealed that TFN membrane exhibits a relatively smooth surface and a less nodular structure compared to pristine TFC membrane. The contact angle of TFN progressively decreased from 54.1° to 37.25°, indicating enhancement in surface hydrophilicity. Moreover, the incorporation of LDH nanofillers resulted in a less negative membrane as compared to the pristine TFC membrane. The best NF performance was achieved by TFN2 membrane with 0.1° of Cu-Al LDH loading and a water flux of 7.01 Lm-2h-1.bar. The addition of Cu-Al LDH resulted in excellent single salt rejections of Na2SO4 (96.8%), MgCl2 (95.6%), MgSO4 (95.4%), and NaCl (60.8%). The improvement in anti-fouling properties of resultant TFN membranes can be observed from the increments of pure water flux recovery and normalized water flux by 14% and 25% respectively. The findings indicated that Cu-Al LDH is a promising material in tailoring membrane surface properties and fouling resistance. The modification of the LDH-filled TFN membrane shows another alternative to fabricating a high-performance composite membrane, especially for water softening and partial desalination process.

Evaluation of exfoliation degree of montmorillonite in aqueous dispersions through turbidity measurement

In this work, the exfoliation of montmorillonite (MMT) in aqueous suspensions was investigated through the measurement of turbidity. The experimental results have shown that the turbidity is closely correlated to the exfoliation degree of MMT in aqueous suspensions. Below the solid concentration of 2% w/v and in the range of pH 4–10, the turbidity of aqueous dispersions of MMT without exfoliation appeared constant, while it decreased on increasing the exfoliation degree of MMT. The ratio of the turbidities before and after the exfoliation (τ₀/τ) was directly proportional to the number of fresh MMT flakes formed from the exfoliation. τ₀/τ was termed the exfoliation degree E. The larger the value of E, the more MMT flakes formed. It has been found that the exfoliation of MMT in aqueous dispersions was depressed due to the presence of electrolytic ions. This depression increased with the increase of ion concentration and valence.

In this work, the exfoliation of montmorillonite (MMT) in aqueous suspensions was investigated through the measurement of turbidity.