Organically functionalized mesoporous SBA-15 as sorbents for removal of selected pharmaceuticals from water

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2011-10, Vol.193, p.156-163
• Main Authors: Bui, Tung Xuan, Kang, Seo-Young, Lee, Sang-Hyup, Choi, Heechul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adsorbents; Adsorption; Applied sciences; Chemical engineering; clofibric acid; drugs; estrone; Exact sciences and technology; Functionalization; General purification processes; hydrophilicity; hydrophobicity; infrared spectroscopy; Mesoporous silica SBA-15; nitrogen; Pharmaceutical Preparations - isolation & purification; Pharmaceuticals; Pollution; silica; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; trimethoprim; Trimethylsilyl groups; wastewater treatment; Wastewaters; Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification; Water treatment and pollution; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.07.043

[Display omitted] ► SBA-15 grafted with aminopropyl, hydroxymethyl, and trimethylsilyl groups as sorbents. ► Sorbents for removal of a mixture of 12 pharmaceuticals from water. ► Hydroxymethyl-SBA-15 shows similar adsorption efficiency like SBA-15. ► Aminopropyl-SBA-15 makes increase for clofibric acid, diclofenac, decrease for atenolol, estrone, trimethoprim. ► Trimethylsilyl-SBA-15 makes increase for 9 compounds; 7 compounds from 70.6% to 98.9%. Mesoporous silica SBA-15 and its postfunctionalized counterparts with hydroxymethyl (HM-SBA-15), aminopropyl (AP-SBA-15), and trimethylsilyl (TMS-SBA-15) were prepared and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N 2 adsorption–desorption measurement, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The removal of a mixture of 12 selected pharmaceuticals was investigated by batch adsorption experiments onto SBA-15 and the grafted materials. SBA-15 showed to have moderate adsorption affinity with amino-containing (atenolol, trimethoprim) and hydrophobic pharmaceuticals, but it displayed minimal adsorption affinity toward hydrophilic compounds. HM-SBA-15 was analogous with SBA-15 in terms of the adsorption efficiency toward all pharmaceuticals. AP-SBA-15 exhibited an increase in the adsorption of two acidic compounds (clofibric acid, diclofenac) but a decrease in the adsorption of estrone and the two amino-containing compounds. Among the grafted materials, TMS-SBA-15 had the highest adsorption affinity toward most pharmaceuticals. Moreover, the adsorption of nine pharmaceuticals to TMS-SBA-15 was significantly higher than that to SBA-15; seven of which showed the removal percentages from 70.6% to 98.9% onto TMS-SBA-15. The number of pharmaceuticals showing high adsorption efficiency onto TMS-SBA-15 did not alter significantly as the pH changed in the range of 5.5–7.6. The results suggest that TMS-SBA-15 is a promising material for the removal of pharmaceuticals from aqueous phase, especially for the treatment of wastewater from drug manufacturers.