Directed selective transport and enrichment of micropollutants by gradient hydrogels

Yuhan Zhang; Huan Wang; Zhichao Song; Caijian Wang; Jingwei Hou; Kunyan Sui; Pengfei Qi

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136929

Directed selective transport and enrichment of micropollutants by gradient hydrogels

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Dec 17:486:136929. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136929. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yuhan Zhang¹, Huan Wang², Zhichao Song¹, Caijian Wang¹, Jingwei Hou³, Kunyan Sui⁴, Pengfei Qi⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fiber and Eco-textiles, Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biobased Fibers and Ecological Textile Technology Institute of Marine Biobased Materials, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
³ School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
⁴ College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fiber and Eco-textiles, Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biobased Fibers and Ecological Textile Technology Institute of Marine Biobased Materials, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ College of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fiber and Eco-textiles, Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biobased Fibers and Ecological Textile Technology Institute of Marine Biobased Materials, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China; College of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Yantai Nanshan University, Yantai 265713, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39721479
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136929

Abstract

Selective autonomous enrichment of micropollutants in the aquatic media has attracted increasing attention because of their low concentration characteristics and diverse coexisting species. Herein, the gradient hydrogels were prepared via free redical polymerization of AA and NH₂-β-CD under the induction of unilateral UV illumination (P(AA-NH₂-β-CD)). The gradient hydrogels present autonomous enrichment towards Sb(III) with a higher selectivity both in single and binary solutions. The simulation calculations proved that the electrostatic potential of the gradient hydrogel is almost identical before and after enrichment of Sb(III), suggesting that the formed hydrogen bonds between carboxyl and hydroxyl groups with gradient distribution play vital voles on its higher selectivity by gradient hydrogels. Moreover, the gradient P(AA-NH₂-β-CD) hydrogels showed selective self-driven enrichment performance for identically charged organic dyes based on host-guest and electrostatic interactions. For the positively charged model pollutants, the gradient hydrogels exhibited a superior selective enrichment performance for MG than X-GRL with a lower K value. The as-prepared gradient hdyrogel may have potential applications for the self-driven and selective removal of micropollutants.

Keywords: Autonomous; Gradient hydrogels; Host-guest interaction; Micropollutants; Selective enrichment.