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In situ acid etching boosts mercury accommodation capacities of transition metal sulfides

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  • Hailong Li

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Jiaoqin Zheng

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Wei Zheng

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Hongxiao Zu

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Hongmei Chen

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Jianping Yang

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Wenqi Qu

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Lijian Leng

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

  • Yong Feng

    (Environmental Research Institute, South China Normal University)

  • Zequn Yang

    (School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University)

Abstract

Transition Metal sulfides (TMSs) are effective sorbents for entrapment of highly polluting thiophiles such as elemental mercury (Hg0). However, the application of these sorbents for mercury removal is stymied by their low accommodation capacities. Among the transition metal sulfides, only CuS has demonstrated industrially relevant accommodation capacity. The rest of the transition metal sulfides have 100-fold lower capacities than CuS. In this work, we overcome these limitations and develop a simple and scalable process to enhance Hg0 accommodation capacities of TMSs. We achieve this by introducing structural motifs in TMSs by in situ etching. We demonstrate that in situ acid etching produces TMSs with defective surface and pore structure. These structural motifs promote Hg0 surface adsorption and diffusion across the entire TMSs architecture. The process is highly versatile and the in situ etched transition metal sulfides show over 100-fold enhancement in their Hg0 accommodation capacities. The generality and the scalability of the process provides a framework to develop TMSs for a broad range of applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Hailong Li & Jiaoqin Zheng & Wei Zheng & Hongxiao Zu & Hongmei Chen & Jianping Yang & Wenqi Qu & Lijian Leng & Yong Feng & Zequn Yang, 2023. "In situ acid etching boosts mercury accommodation capacities of transition metal sulfides," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37140-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37140-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cristian Tunsu & Björn Wickman, 2018. "Effective removal of mercury from aqueous streams via electrochemical alloy formation on platinum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Qinyuan Hong & Haomiao Xu & Xiaoming Sun & Jiaxing Li & Wenjun Huang & Zan Qu & Lizhi Zhang & Naiqiang Yan, 2024. "In-situ low-temperature sulfur CVD on metal sulfides with SO2 to realize self-sustained adsorption of mercury," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Hailong Li & Fanyue Meng & Penglin Zhu & Hongxiao Zu & Zequn Yang & Wenqi Qu & Jianping Yang, 2024. "Biomimetic mercury immobilization by selenium functionalized polyphenylene sulfide fabric," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

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