Abstract
Human body is greatly exposed to aluminum due to its high abundance in the environment. This nonessential metal is a threat to the patients of chronic renal disorders, as it is easily retained in their plasma and quickly accumulates in different tissues. Thus, there is great need to remove it from the aqueous environment. In this study, Al3+ imprinted semiinterpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN)-based cryogel composite was prepared and applied for the purification of environmental and drinking water samples from aluminum. Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) discs were produced via cryogenic treatment and imprinted semi-IPN was introduced to the 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl acrylatemodified macroporous cryogel discs. The adsorption properties and selectivity of the aluminum (III) imprinted semi-IPN cryogel composite were studied in detail. The imprinted semi-IPN cryogel composite showed good selectivity towards aluminum (III) ions with the imprinting factor (IF) of 76.4 in the presence of competing copper (II), nickle (II), and iron (III) ions. The maximum adsorption capacity of 271 μmol g-1 was obtained for aluminum (III) at pH 7.0 within 10 min using imprinted semi-IPN cryogel composite. The good selectivity and reusability of aluminum (III)-imprinted semi-IPN cryogel composite makes this material an eligible candidate for the purification of drinking water from aluminum (III) leaving important minerals remained in the water.
Highlights
Increasing demand to obtain clean and safe aqueous environment has boosted up the progress of green synthetic materials that can clean the water systems efficiently
Different studies reported removal of aluminum with microspheres of poly EGDMA-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) incorporated with different dyes, i.e. Congo Red, Alkali Blue 6B, and Cibacron Blue F3GA [33]
Magnetic beads of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) attached with alizarin have been used for aluminum removal from both, dialysate fluid and drinking water [34]
Summary
Increasing demand to obtain clean and safe aqueous environment has boosted up the progress of green synthetic materials that can clean the water systems efficiently. Cryogels are categorized as innovative class of adsorbents because of their exceptional structural properties and flow dynamics [6] They are highly cross-linked 3D-materials having a huge arrangement of interconnected pores with sizes ranging from 1 to 100 μm [7]. Cryogels are promising materials for a vast range of applications in the numerous research fields including food safety, water treatment, environmental sciences, chemistry, and biotechnology [11] Another major challenge for the adsorbents used in separation and removal applications is their selectivity or recognition for the target molecule/ion in a vast collection of similar molecules/ions. IPNs enhance the mechanical strength, biodegradability, stability, and solutes diffusion ability of sorbent They have been considered the best interlocked structures in the cross-linked networks [25]. The synthesized imprinted semi-IPN cryogel composites were characterized thoroughly and examined for their kinetics, adsorption capacity, selectivity, and reusability for aluminum removal
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