Facile Synthesis of MoS2/CuS Nanosheet Composites as an Efficient and Ultrafast Adsorbent for Water-Soluble Dyes

This study demonstrates quick and efficient removal of different dyes from wastewater by using MoS2/CuS nanosheet composites (NCs) as adsorbent. The MoS2/CuS NCs are prepared by a facile hydrothermal route, and the composites exhibit high adsorption capacity with 273.23, 432.68, 98.78, and 211.18 mg/g for rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), methyl orange (MO), and rhodamine 6G dyes (RhB 6G), respectively. This is ascribed to its high specific surface area (106.27 m2/g) and small mesopores (2.299 nm) which provide numerous adsorption sites and uniform coverage for dye molecules. High adsorption efficiency is obtained for RhB (93.8%), MB (100%), and RhB 6G (84.73%), except for MO (48.9%) at the adsorption equilibrium time at the solution concentration of 80 mg/L. The adsorption of MoS2/CuS NCs can be well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption isotherm at the equilibrium fits well with the Langmuir model. The rapid and efficient adsorption ensures MoS2/CuS NCs to be a broad-spectrum adsorbent for different dye contaminants in water.