Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 17, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
Molecules. 2019 Jul 31;24(15):2788. doi: 10.3390/molecules24152788.
Due to large drug consumption, pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) can be found as water contaminants. The removal of PhACs is a significant issue, as they can easily overtake traditional purification methods. Because of their surface properties, carbon nanomaterials are among the most efficient materials able to adsorb PhACs. However, their limitation is their recovery after use and their possible leakage into the aquatic system. Consequently, new hybrid supramolecular ionic liquid gels (HILGs) have been designed for the adsorption of some antibiotic drugs (ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid) from water. The chemical-physical properties of gels, such as the temperature of the gel-sol transition, morphology, and rheology, have been studied for their use as sorbents. These properties influence the gel removal efficiency of PhAC, i.e., the best system is the gel that presents weaker colloidal forces. A fast removal (RE = 51%) is obtained in 3 h for ciprofloxacin, while a slower adsorption process is observed for nalidixic acid (RE = 88% in 24 h). HILGs can be recycled up to seven cycles and regenerated. In addition, they can be used with higher concentrations or volumes of PhAC and in a realistic apparatus like dialysis membranes. These peculiarities suggest that HILGs can be competitive with more complex sorbent systems.
由于大量药物的使用，药用活性化合物（PhACs）可能会作为水污染的污染物而存在。去除 PhACs 是一个重大问题，因为它们很容易超越传统的净化方法。由于其表面特性，碳纳米材料是能够吸附 PhACs 的最有效材料之一。然而，它们的局限性在于使用后的回收和可能泄漏到水系统中。因此，新的混合超分子离子液体凝胶（HILGs）已被设计用于从水中吸附一些抗生素药物（环丙沙星和萘啶酸）。为了将其用作吸附剂，研究了凝胶的物理化学性质，如凝胶-溶胶转变的温度、形态和流变学。这些性质影响 PhAC 的凝胶去除效率，即最佳系统是胶体力较弱的凝胶。对于环丙沙星，在 3 小时内即可实现快速去除（RE = 51%），而萘啶酸的吸附过程较慢（24 小时内 RE = 88%）。HILGs 可以循环使用多达七次并进行再生。此外，它们可以用于更高浓度或更大体积的 PhAC，并在像透析膜这样的实际设备中使用。这些特点表明，HILGs 可以与更复杂的吸附剂系统竞争。
