Abstract
The presence of several organic contaminants in the environment and aquatic compartments has been a matter of great concern in the recent years. To tackle this problem, new sustainable and cost-effective technologies are needed. Herein we describe magnetic biosorbents prepared from trimethyl chitosan (TMC), which is a quaternary chitosan scarcely studied for environmental applications. Core@shell particles comprising a core of magnetite (Fe3O4) coated with TMC/siloxane hybrid shells (Fe3O4@SiO2/SiTMC) were successfully prepared using a simple one-step coating procedure. Adsorption tests were conducted to investigate the potential of the coated particles for the magnetically assisted removal of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from aqueous solutions. It was found that TMC-based particles provide higher SMX adsorption capacity than the counterparts prepared using pristine chitosan. Therefore, the type of chemical modification introduced in the chitosan type precursors used in the surface coatings has a dominant effect on the sorption efficiency of the respective final magnetic nanosorbents.
Highlights
Emerging pollutants encompass a vast number of organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals that, in recent years, have accumulated in aquatic compartments due to continuous and uncontrolled discharge of such substances into the environment [1,2]
Magnetic Fe3 O4 nanoparticles have been coated with hybrid siliceous shells enriched in trimethyl chitosan (TMC) which is a quaternary chitosan of interest for biomedical and environmental applications
We succeeded in applying this methodology to the coating of magnetic nanoparticles with chitosan which is a cationic polysaccharide [44]
Summary
Emerging pollutants encompass a vast number of organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals that, in recent years, have accumulated in aquatic compartments due to continuous and uncontrolled discharge of such substances into the environment [1,2]. Discharge, persistence and toxic properties, SMX has been considered by several scientists as an antibiotic of particular concern for aquatic environments [4]. Several methods have been proposed for the removal of SMX from water [10], including advanced oxidation processes [11], biological treatment [12], membrane separation [13] and adsorption [14]. Among these methods, adsorption is very attractive in view of its simplicity of implementation, cost-effectiveness, and less production of toxic intermediates. As to achieve highly effective adsorptive separation, sorbent materials with high capacity, chemical selectivity and fast rate of adsorption must be used
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