title: Carbon-cryogel hierarchical composites as effective and scalable filters for removal of trace organic pollutants from water.
abstract: Effective technologies are required to remove organic micropollutants from large fluid volumes to overcome present and future challenges in water and effluent treatment. A novel hierarchical composite filter material for rapid and effective removal of polar organic contaminants from water was developed. The composite is fabricated from phenolic resin-derived carbon microbeads with controllable porous structure and specific surface area embedded in a monolithic, flow permeable, poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel. The bead-embedded monolithic composite filter retains the bulk of the high adsorptive capacity of the carbon microbeads while improving pore diffusion rates of organic pollutants. Water spiked with organic contaminants, both at environmentally relevant concentrations and at high levels of contamination, was used to determine the purification limits of the filter. Flow through tests using water spiked with the pesticides atrazine (32 mg/L) and malathion (16 mg/L) indicated maximum adsorptive capacities of 641 and 591 mg pollutant/g carbon, respectively. Over 400 bed volumes of water contaminated with 32 mg atrazine/L, and over 27,400 bed volumes of water contaminated with 2 μg atrazine/L, were treated before pesticide guideline values of 0.1 μg/L were exceeded. High adsorptive capacity was maintained when using water with high total organic carbon (TOC) levels and high salinity. The toxicity of water filtrates was tested in vitro with human epithelial cells with no evidence of cytotoxicity after initial washing.
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK; MAST Carbon International Ltd. Jays Close, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 4BA, UK; Kingston University, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 2EE, UK. Electronic address: R.Busquets@Kingston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Busquets
authors.affiliation: Protista Biotechnology AB, Kvarngatan 2, P.O. Box 86, SE-267 22 Bjuv, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alexander E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK; Blond McIndoe Research Foundation, Queen Victoria Hospital, Holtye Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3DZ, UK.
authors.forename: Lubinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mbundi
authors.affiliation: Protista Biotechnology AB, Kvarngatan 2, P.O. Box 86, SE-267 22 Bjuv, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hörberg
authors.affiliation: MAST Carbon International Ltd. Jays Close, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 4BA, UK.
authors.forename: Oleksandr P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Kozynchenko
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cragg
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK.
authors.forename: Irina N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Savina
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK; Nazarbayev University, School of Engineering, 53, Kabanbay Batyr Ave., Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan.
authors.forename: Raymond L D
authors.initials: RLD
authors.lastname: Whitby
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK; Nazarbayev University, School of Engineering, 53, Kabanbay Batyr Ave., Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan.
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Mikhalovsky
authors.affiliation: MAST Carbon International Ltd. Jays Close, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 4BA, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Tennison
authors.affiliation: Protista Biotechnology AB, Kvarngatan 2, P.O. Box 86, SE-267 22 Bjuv, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jungvid
authors.affiliation: University of Brighton, Faculty of Science and Engineering, BN2 4GJ, UK; University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK. Electronic address: A.Cundy@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Cundy
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D059985:Cryogels / Q000737:chemistry; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D059985:Cryogels; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Composite materials; Cryogel; Hierarchical structures; Phenolic carbon; Water treatment