Filho Cesar M C, Bueno Pedro V A, Matsushita Alan F Y, Vilsinski Bruno H, Rubira Adley F, Muniz Edvani C, Murtinho Dina M B, Valente Artur J M
Department of Chemistry, CQC, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal.
BRinova Biochemistry Lda., R. Fernanda Seno, 6, 7005-485 Évora, Portugal.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Apr 10;12(4):877. doi: 10.3390/polym12040877.
Aromatic hydrocarbons are extensive environmental pollutants occurring in both water and air media, and their removal is a priority effort for a healthy environment. The use of adsorbents is among the several strategies used for the remediation of these compounds. In this paper, we aim the synthesis of an amphiphilic hydrogel with the potential for the simultaneous sorption of a set of monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with toxicity effects in humans. Thus, we start by the synthesis of a copolymer-based in chitosan and β-cyclodextrin previously functionalized with the maleic anhydride. The presence of β-cyclodextrin will confer the ability to interact with hydrophobic compounds. The resulting material is posteriorly incorporated in a cryogel of poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix. We aim to improve the amphiphilic ability of the hydrogel matrix. The obtained hydrogel was characterized by swelling water kinetics, thermogravimetric analysis, rheological measurements, and scanning electron microscopy. The sorption of aromatic hydrocarbons onto the gel is characterized by pseudo-first-order kinetics and Henry isotherm, suggesting a physisorption mechanism. The results show that the presence of maleic anhydride-β-cyclodextrin and chitosan into hydrogels leads to an increase in the removal efficiency of the aromatic compounds. Additionally, the capacity of this hydrogel for removing these pollutants from a fossil fuel sample has also been tested.
芳香烃是广泛存在于水和空气介质中的环境污染物，去除这些污染物是营造健康环境的首要任务。使用吸附剂是修复这些化合物所采用的几种策略之一。在本文中，我们旨在合成一种两亲性水凝胶，它有潜力同时吸附一组与人类毒性效应相关的单环和多环芳香烃。因此，我们首先合成一种基于壳聚糖和先前用马来酸酐官能化的β-环糊精的共聚物。β-环糊精的存在将赋予其与疏水性化合物相互作用的能力。所得材料随后被掺入聚乙烯醇基质的冷冻凝胶中。我们旨在提高水凝胶基质的两亲性能力。通过溶胀水动力学、热重分析、流变学测量和扫描电子显微镜对所得水凝胶进行了表征。芳香烃在凝胶上的吸附以准一级动力学和亨利等温线为特征，表明其为物理吸附机制。结果表明，水凝胶中马来酸酐-β-环糊精和壳聚糖的存在导致芳香化合物去除效率的提高。此外，还测试了这种水凝胶从化石燃料样品中去除这些污染物的能力。
