Spatiotemporally ordered topological transformation in layered double hydroxides enables synergistic mineralization of AsIII/Cd2+
The co-contamination of arsenite (As<sup>III</sup>) and cadmium (Cd<sup>2+</sup>) poses a significant challenge in environmental remediation due to their divergent chemical speciation and transformation pathways. Here, a redox-active layered double oxide (MgMn-LDO) is designed, and achieves adsorption capacities of 821.7 mg g<sup>‒1</sup> for As<sup>III</sup> and 1895.6 mg g<sup>‒1</sup> for Cd<sup>2+</sup> in their coexisting system, presenting a state-of-the-art performance. Unexpectedly, the co-adsorption system not only enhances individual adsorption capacities but also accelerates the adsorption rate by 181‒fold compared to single-component systems. The LDO undergoes a four-stage spatiotemporally ordered topological transformation, which effectively decouples the oxidation of As<sup>III</sup> from the adsorption of Cd<sup>2+</sup> and reverses the conventional competitive sequence. This stepwise mechanism ensures preferential oxidation of As<sup>III</sup> to As<sup>V</sup>, followed by the alteration of Cd<sup>2+</sup> adsorption pathway to isomorphous substitution, expanding diffusion pathways and accelerating As immobilization. Large-scale experiments demonstrate this material's potential in synergistic remediation As/Cd in mining wastewater and contaminated soils.
Authors
- Meiqi Zheng
- Xiaoqing Cao
- Wenying Shi
- Mingfei Shao
- Si-Min Xu
- Xue Duan
- Huanxu Du
- Xianggui Kong
- Wei Chen
Institutions
- Quanzhou Normal University (CN)
- Gannan Normal University (CN)
- Quzhou University (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-01-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68326-2
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Layered Double Hydroxides Synthesis and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 16.08
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China