Accelerating the Design of β-CD-PVDF-based Molecularly Imprinted Nanocomposite Membrane for Selective Separation: A Surface Functional Monomer-Directing Strategy

Abstract

Enoxacin, as the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity antibiotics, has been widely used in treatment of bacterial diseases in animals and humans around the world. The extensive use of enoxacin in healthcare has also caused increasingly serious environmental risk as a matter of course. In this work, enoxacin imprinted poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composite membranes (EIPCMs) were developed by strategy of surface grafting beta-cyclodextrin ([Formula: see text]-CD) for the improved hydrophilic and antifouling properties of the basal membrane. PVDF membrane was prepared by phase inversion method, and [Formula: see text]-CD was grafted onto the surface after hydroxyl groups modification. The effects of adding amount of [Formula: see text]-CD on performance of basal membranes were systematically examined. Further, the specific recognition sites were fabricated via sol–gel surface imprinting method using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The specific adsorption and permeation experiments were investigated and explored the separation performance and mechanism of EIPCM. The results indicated that the as-prepared EIPCMs not only exhibited highly favorable features and high rebinding strength (31.25[Formula: see text]mg g[Formula: see text], but also possessed superior selective performance toward enoxacin (imprinted factor [Formula: see text] is 3.15). Furthermore, in order to investigate the practical applications of EIPCMs, the adsorption experiments were carried out using environmental sewage. The work developed here shows great potential for further applications in selective recognition and separation antibiotics pollution from the environment.