Mesoporous TiO₂@nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets implanted in flexible and robust chitosan membrane with dual-function for efficient adsorption of iodide and methyl orange from aqueous solution

Radioactive iodide (I⁻) and methyl orange (MO) are two leading pollutants in wastewater, posing significant health risks. Crosslinked chitosan membranes (CCM) combined with TiO₂@nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets (CCM/TiO₂@NC) were prepared as efficient I⁻ and MO adsorbents in wastewater. These membranes leverage multiple interactions between I⁻/MO and functional groups (−NH₂, nitrogen-doped carbon, and TiO₂) within the membrane. As expected, CCM/TiO₂@NC exhibited high I⁻ removal efficiencies of nearly 82 % across a wide pH range (pH 3 − 11) and an exceptional MO removal efficiency of 96.1 % at a neutral condition. The adsorption behaviors followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic model for both species, achieving maximum adsorption capacities of 1.383 mmol/g (175.6 mg/g) for I⁻ and 661.4 mg/g for MO, respectively. Additionally, CCM/TiO₂@NC maintained a high absorption efficiency for both I⁻ and MO through five regeneration cycles. The I⁻ adsorption mechanism of CCM/TiO₂@NC involves electrostatic attraction, anion-π interaction, and hydrogen bonding, while MO adsorption involves electrostatic attraction, n/π-π interactions, and hydrogen bonding. This study offers feasible guidance on developing chitosan/nanomaterial composites as promising adsorbents for removing I⁻ and MO from wastewater.