Two-dimensional titanium carbide MXene produced by ternary cations intercalation via structural control with angstrom-level precision

Highly effective decontamination of lead is a primary challenge for ecosystem protection and public health. Herein, we report a methodology of ternary cations intercalation to synthesize Ti(3)C(2)T(x) MXene by structural control with angstrom-level precision through mixed fluorinated salts wet etching-alkalization approach for high-efficient lead adsorption. The successive introduction of lithium, potassium, and sodium ions continuously weakens interaction forces between Ti(3)C(2)T(x) layers, resulting in achieving fine tailored interlayer distance from 9.8 to 15.9 Å. A high density of complexing groups are formed after ternary cations intercalation, which greatly improve the hydrophilicity of Ti(3)C(2)T(x) to enhance the accessibility and shorten the mass transfer and provide abundant adsorption sites to exhibit strong complexing effects with lead ions. The prepared ternary cations-intercalated Ti(3)C(2)T(x) nanosheets exhibited a high adsorption capacity (267.2 mg/g) toward lead ions and sharply cut down lead concentration from 10 to 0.009 mg/L, far below the drinking water standards (0.015 mg/L).