Polydopamine Nanoparticle-Coated Polysulfone Porous Granules as Adsorbents for Water Remediation
Journal article, 2019

Water purification technologies possibly based on eco-sustainable, low cost, and multifunctional materials are being intensively pursued to resolve the current water scarcity and pollution. In this scenario, polysulfone hollow porous granules (PS-HPGs) prepared from scraps of the industrial production of polysulfone hollow fiber membranes were recently introduced as adsorbents and filtration materials for water and air treatment. Here, we report the functionalization of PS-HPGs with polydopamine (PD) nanoparticles for the preparation of a new versatile and efficient adsorbent material, namely, PSPD-HPGs. The in situ growth of PD under mild alkaline oxidative polymerization allowed us to stably graft PD on polysulfone granules. Enhanced removal efficiency of ofloxacin, an antibiotic drug, with an improvement up to 70% with respect to the pristine PS-HPGs, and removal of Zn(II) and Ni(II) were also observed after PD modification. Remarkably, removal of Cu(II) ions with an efficiency up to 80% was observed for PSPD-HPGs, whereas no adsorption was found for the PD-free precursor. Collectively, these data show that modification with a biocompatible polymer such as PD provides a simple and valuable tool to enlarge the field of application of polysulfone hollow granules for water remediation from both organic and metal cation contaminants.

Author

Tamara Posati

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Morena Nocchetti

University of Perugia

Alessandro Kovtun

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Anna Donnadio

University of Perugia

Massimo Zambianchi

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Annalisa Aluigi

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Massimo L. Capobianco

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Franco Corticelli

Consiglo Nazionale Delle Richerche

Vincenzo Palermo

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Materials and manufacture

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

G. Ruani

Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati del C.N.R.

Roberto Zamboni

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

Maria Luisa Navacchia

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

M. Melucci

Institute for organic syntheses and photoreactivity (ISOF-CNR)

ACS Omega

24701343 (eISSN)

Vol. 4 3 4839-4847

Subject Categories

Polymer Chemistry

Other Chemistry Topics

Water Treatment

DOI

10.1021/acsomega.8b02900

More information

Latest update

5/26/2023