Integrated Dynamic and Steady State Method and Its Application on the Screening of MoS₂ Nanosheet-Containing Adsorbents for Hg⁰ Capture

In this research, an integrated dynamic and steady state (IDSS) method was developed to accelerate the discovery of new materials for the capture of Hg⁰, a pollutant that is associated with fossil fuel utilization and has significant impacts on health and the ecosystem. A suite of metal sulfides and MoS₂-based binary metal sulfides were evaluated using this method. It was found that the existence of MoS₂ nanosheets promoted the Hg⁰ removal efficiency of these metal sulfides. Among the MoS₂-based metal sulfides studied in this research, Co-Mo-S and Cu-Mo-S exhibited excellent performance with an almost complete removal of Hg⁰ at low temperatures. The results are superior to their corresponding metal oxides and the MoS₂-containing adsorbent and are comparable to that of the commercial carbon-based adsorbent. Moreover, the working temperature windows for Hg⁰ capture were found to be broader for the Mo-based binary metal sulfides than the corresponding metal oxides. The Co-Mo-S and Cu-Mo-S also showed better performance on Hg⁰ capture than other samples. It is proved that the IDSS approach is an effective and efficient method for the rapid screening of adsorbents for Hg⁰ capture, which could be applied in the development of adsorption materials for environmental applications.