Tudorache Trifa Dana-Ionela, Niculescu Adelina-Gabriela, Bîrcă Alexandra-Cătălina, Florea Denisa Alexandra, Rădulescu Marius, Vasile Bogdan-Ștefan, Trușcă Roxana, Mihaiescu Dan-Eduard, Hadibarata Tony, Grumezescu Alexandru-Mihai
Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, 1-7 Polizu Street, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
Research Institute of the University of Bucharest-ICUB, University of Bucharest, 90-92 Panduri, 050663 Bucharest, Romania.
Gels. 2025 Jun 17;11(6):463. doi: 10.3390/gels11060463.
Aerogels have gained much interest in the last decades due to their specific properties, such as high porosity, high surface area, and low density, which have caused them to be used in multiple and varied fields. As the applicability of aerogels is tightly correlated to their morpho-structural features, special consideration must be allocated to the fabrication method. An emerging technique for producing nanostructured materials with tailored morphology and dimensions is represented by continuous-flow microfluidics. In this context, this work explores the synergic combination of aerogel-based materials with microfluidic synthesis platforms to generate advanced nanocomposite adsorbents for water decontamination. Specifically, this study presents the novel synthesis of a magnetic silica-based aerogel using a custom-designed 3D microfluidic platform, offering enhanced control over nanoparticle incorporation and gelation compared to conventional sol-gel techniques. The resulting gel was further dried via supercritical CO extraction to preserve its unique nanostructure. The multi-faceted physicochemical investigations (XRD, DLS, FT-IR, RAMAN, SEM, and TEM) confirmed the material's uniform morphology, high porosity, and surface functionalization. The HR-MS FT-ICR analysis has also demonstrated the advanced material's adsorption capacity for various pesticides, suggesting its adequacy for further environmental applications. An exceptional 93.7% extraction efficiency was registered for triazophos, underscoring the potential of microfluidic synthesis approaches in engineering advanced, eco-friendly adsorbent materials for water decontamination of relevant organic pollutants.
在过去几十年中，气凝胶因其特殊性能，如高孔隙率、高比表面积和低密度，而备受关注，这些特性使其被应用于多个不同领域。由于气凝胶的适用性与其形态结构特征密切相关，因此必须特别考虑其制备方法。连续流微流体技术是一种新兴的制备具有定制形态和尺寸的纳米结构材料的技术。在此背景下，本工作探索了基于气凝胶的材料与微流体合成平台的协同组合，以制备用于水净化的先进纳米复合吸附剂。具体而言，本研究介绍了一种使用定制设计的3D微流体平台合成磁性二氧化硅基气凝胶的新方法，与传统溶胶 - 凝胶技术相比，该方法能更好地控制纳米颗粒的掺入和凝胶化过程。所得凝胶通过超临界CO萃取进一步干燥，以保留其独特的纳米结构。多方面的物理化学研究（XRD、DLS、FT - IR、RAMAN、SEM和TEM）证实了该材料形态均匀、孔隙率高且具有表面功能化。HR - MS FT - ICR分析还表明了这种先进材料对各种农药的吸附能力，表明其适用于进一步的环境应用。三唑磷的萃取效率高达93.7%，突出了微流体合成方法在制备用于水净化相关有机污染物的先进、环保吸附材料方面的潜力。
