Surface Functionalization of Montmorillonite with Chitosan and Role of Surface Properties on Its Adsorptive Performance: A Comparative Study on Mycotoxins Adsorption

Understanding surface and interfacial information, which has close relationship to the structures and properties of materials, helps guide the design of materials for specific applications. This study focuses on surface functionalization of montmorillonite (Mt) with chitosan (CTS) and exploring the role of surface properties on its adsorptive performance. Two prototypical products, namely 180-Htc@Mt and 250-Htc@Mt, were fabricated via hydrothermal method at 180 and 250 °C, respectively. FESEM revealed that hydrothermal carbon (Htc) derived from CTS anchored on the surface of Mt uniformly with spherical morphology. The introduction of Htc endowed surface of Mt with abundant hydroxy, amine and amide groups, organic carbon, developed porosity and hydrophobic interfacial property. Hydrothermal temperature has huge impacts on the surface system, and smaller particles (average sizes of 27 nm vs 53 nm) with deeper carbonization, higher carbonaceous and nitrogenous functional groups, more developed porosity (66.1...