Reusable SnS2-Based Cotton Fabric Composites for Efficient Decontamination of Water from Lead Ions under Continuous Flow Conditions

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Abstract
Lead is a toxic heavy metal that pollutes the environment and accumulates in the human body, causing many severe health issues. Metal sulfides have emerged as promising sorbents for rapidly decontaminating Pb2+-containing wastewater, showing exceptional sorption kinetics, capacities, and selectivity against common competitive ionic species. In this study, we present modified SnS2 phases, namely, SnS2(DMA)0.7(H2O)0.3 (SnS2/DMA, DMA = dimethylamine) and Sn1-xS2·yH2O (SnS2/acid), which demonstrated efficient removal of Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions. Both materials exhibited fast kinetics (≤4 min), high sorption capacities (838.0 mg g-1 for SnS2/DMA and 190.0 mg g-1 for SnS2/acid), remarkable selectivity toward Pb2+ over several competing cations and in various pH values, because of strong Pb-S covalent interactions. Aiming for practical wastewater treatment, we immobilized SnS2/DMA and SnS2/acid on cotton fabrics, marking this as the initial application of metal sulfides immobilized onto cotton substrates. The metal sulfide-fabric composites were utilized to remove Pb2+ under continuous flow conditions, showing significant Pb2+ sorption properties. Significantly, the metal sulfide-based composites can be regenerated and reused over several Pb2+ sorption cycles. This feature, demonstrated for the first time in metal sulfide materials, constitutes a breakthrough for this class of sorbents.

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