An efficient recyclable magnetic material for the selective removal of organic pollutants.
Wastewater cleaning strategies based on the adsorption of materials are being increasingly considered, but the wide variety of organic pollutants at low concentrations still makes their removal a challenge. The hybrid material proposed here consists of a zwitterionic polyethylenimine polymer coating a magnetic core. Polyethylenimine is phosphonated at different percentages by a one-step process and used to coat maghemite nanoparticles. It selectively extracts high amounts of cationic and anionic contaminants over a wide range of pH values, depending on the adjustable number of phosphonate groups introduced on the polymer. After recovering the nanoparticles with a magnet, pollutants are quantitatively released by repeated washing with low amounts of pH-adjusted water. The material can be reused many times without noticeable loss of efficiency and is designed to resist high temperatures, oxidation and harsh conditions.
UMR CNRS 6507 LCMT, Normandie Université -ENSICAEN, 6 boulevard du Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen, France; Tel: +33 2 31 45 28 40.
Clément
C
Monteil
UMR CNRS 6507 LCMT, Normandie Université -ENSICAEN, 6 boulevard du Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen, France; Tel: +33 2 31 45 28 40.
Nathalie
N
Bar
UMR CNRS 8234 PHENIX, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France.
Agnès
A
Bee
UMR CNRS 6507 LCMT, Normandie Université -ENSICAEN, 6 boulevard du Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen, France; Tel: +33 2 31 45 28 40.
Didier
D
Villemin
adsorption; magnetic nanoparticles; organic pollutants; phosphonated polyethylenimine