Аңдатпа
The critical environmental challenges associated with mercury pollution are attributed to its toxicity, persistence, and tendency to bioaccumulate throughout the food chain. In this study, kaolin–molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) composites engineered with two distinct morphologies, three-dimensional (3D) flower-like MoS 2 (F-MoS 2 ) and two-dimensional MoS 2 (2D-MoS 2 ), were synthesized and evaluated for mercury removal from aqueous solutions. MoS 2 was hydrothermally synthesized and deposited onto kaolin to obtain K–F-MoS 2 and K–2D-MoS 2 composites. Comprehensive characterization confirmed well-defined 2D and 3D flower-like architectures and demonstrated their structural integrity following Hg 2+ adsorption. K–F-MoS 2 exhibited significantly higher performance than K–2D-MoS 2 with maximum Langmuir capacities of 161.4 and 76.8 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption isotherms were best described by the Langmuir model for K–F-MoS 2 and the Freundlich model for K–2D-MoS 2 . Both composites followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating chemisorption-driven uptake, and mechanistic investigations confirmed Hg 2+ binding was predominantly through covalent surface complexation with sulfur atoms on MoS 2 . Thermodynamic studies establish the endothermic nature of the adsorption process. K–2D-MoS 2 and K–F-MoS 2 exhibited antibacterial activity against S. aureus and Escherichia coli (BL21), with K–2D-MoS 2 exhibiting a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5 and 5 mg/mL , and for K–F-MoS 2, 5 and 10 mg/mL, respectively. Both adsorbents also inhibited biofilm formation. These results demonstrate that kaolin–MoS 2 hybrid systems are promising multifunctional materials for Hg 2+ remediation and antimicrobial protection with strong potential for industrial applications.