Mechanical milling: a sustainable route to induce structural transformations in MoS2 for applications in the treatment of contaminated water

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have received much attention in recent years, because of their unusual properties associated with their ultra-thin thickness and 2D morphology. Besides graphene, a new 2D material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), has attracted immense interest in various applications. On the other hand, ball-milling process provides an original strategy to modify materials at the nanometer scale. This methodology represents a smart solution for the fabrication of MoS2 nanopowders extremely-efficient in adsorbing water contaminants in aqueous solution. This work reports a comprehensive morphological, structural, and physicochemical investigation of MoS2 nanopowders treated with dry ball-milling. The adsorption performances of the produced nanopowders were tested using methylene blue (MB) dye and phenol in aqueous solution. The adsorption capacity as a function of ball-milling time was deeply studied and explained. Importantly, the ball-milled MoS2 nanopowders can be easily and efficiently regenerated without compromising their adsorption capacity, so to be reusable for dye adsorption. The eventual toxic effects of the prepared materials on microcrustacean Artemia salina were also studied. The present results demonstrate that ball-milling of MoS2 offers a valid method for large-scale production of extremely efficient adsorbent for the decontamination of wastewaters from several pollutants.