DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.incnc.2021.022
Publication date: 8th June 2021
Although the reported environmental concentrations of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been mainly found to be at the µg/L to g/L range in seawaters and surface waters, and in the lower ng/L level in groundwaters and drinking waters, they tend to increase due to their wide usage and irresponsible disposal [1]. Even at these low concentrations, pollutants can impact aquatic ecosystems causing chronic harm. Among them, Ibuprofen (IBP) and Diclofenac (DCF) are considered Class I pharmaceuticals that must be dealt with in urgency while estimated to be consumed in several kilotons per year globally[2].
Activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, clays, and others have been used for absorption of pharmaceutical pollutants but graphene and graphene oxide have shown better results and behavior since they can remove persistent pollutants and organics due to their high surface area (∼2630 m2 g−1), large delocalized pi (π) electrons and tunable chemical properties which make them potential outstanding adsorbents for environmental decontamination applications [3]. The addition of magnetic nanoparticles to graphitic structures has recently been studied to help remove the adsorbent materials from the treated water easily such as metals and dyes with outstanding results [4].
In this work, a graphene-based magnetic hybrid material decorated with Fe3O4 nanocrystals (NCs) is designed for the effective removal of emerging pollutants when they are present at low concentrations. Several variations of the Fe3O4/Graphene hybrid were fabricated such as Fe3O4/Graphene oxide and a multimodal Fe3O4-TiO2/Graphene hybrid which explored the photocatalytic degradation of the captured drugs. Green preparation of this hybrid, a study of its application and performance, and a simple, direct method of detection and quantification by UV-Vis are presented.
The authors acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Belén Ballesteros for acquiring EDX Spectra from the samples and Mr. Gerard Boix for procuring the thermogravimetric analysis. The Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2) is jointly supported by the Severo Ochoa program from the Spanish MINECO (Grant No. SEV-2017-0706) and the CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Catalunya. J.O. acknowledges support from the European Social Fund, the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca, Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2020 FI_B1 00141) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
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