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Abstract: Antibiotic residues in environmental media pose a significant health, social and economic problem and require effective removal strategies. This study presents a novel approach for the removal of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin from water sources using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs) synthesised by co-precipitation, and subsequently functionalised with the polysaccharide carboxymethyl-dextran (CMD). The prepared nanoadsorbent was characterised extensively by various physicochemical analyses, to evaluate its morphology, crystal structure, surface chemistry, electrokinetic properties, thermogravimetric properties and magnetic features. These analyses confirmed the successful functionalisation of the MNPs with CMD highlighting its potential for effective adsorption applications. The stability of CMD coating on MNPs was evaluated in terms of total carbon content, an important, yet often overlooked factor. The adsorption performance of MNPs@CMD for ciprofloxacin was investigated systematically by studying the effects of adsorbent dosage, pH, initial ciprofloxacin concentration, ionic strength, adsorption time and kinetics, temperature, and reusability. Under optimal conditions, nanoadsorbent exhibited a satisfactory maximum adsorption capacity of 14.71 mg/g, and maintained a removal eff iciency of 79 % after four cycles, with minimal desorption of CMD layer on the MNPs. These findings demonstrate the potential of this magnetic polysaccharide nanoadsorbent for effective removal of ciprofloxacin from aqueous environments, enabling magnetic recovery and reuse.
Keywords: Carboxymethyl-dextran-MNPs, ciprofloxacin, adsorption
Published in DKUM: 26.05.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 6
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Abstract: The presented study assesses the efficiency of selected adsorbents, zeolite 4A in two particle sizes and pelletized activated carbon (AC), for the potential removal of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC) and metals from wastewaters after natural wool dyeing. Firstly, the natural coloring compounds were extracted from dried common walnut (Juglans regia) leaves and used further for exhaustion dyeing of wool fibers, together with three different metallic salts in two concentrations (meta-mordanting). Effluents with higher mordant concentration were additionally treated according to a shake-flask adsorption experiment. The obtained results revealed efficient removal of exceeded metallic ions by zeolite (up to 94.7%), on account of their superior ion exchange capability as compared to AC. The zeolites also reduced turbidity and electrical conductivity significantly. On the other hand, AC was more efficient for the reduction in organic pollution, COD up to 96% and TOC up to 95%, due to its higher specific surface area and total pore volume, and, thus, higher potential for adsorption of different compounds in comparison to 4A. All three proposed adsorbents lowered wastewaters’ coloration remarkably, up to 78% (AC) and up to 71% (4A), depending on the type of effluent/mordant and inspected wavelength; although, the spectral absorbance coefficient (SAC) values remained highly above the limit values for discharge of wastewaters into watercourses.
Keywords: wool dyeing, natural dyes, wastewater treatment, decoloration, heavy metals’ reduction, adsorption
Published in DKUM: 20.03.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 4
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Abstract: Oil spills remain one of the greatest man-made ecological threats, despite numerous advanced cleanup approaches. They still pose a major challenge in the search for materials and technologies that work as efficiently and sustainably as possible. Promising natural materials include poultry feathers, which are produced in large quantities every day as a byproduct of the meat industry. In this study, the influence of different forms of absorbents (loose feathers, pillows, and sheets) based on chicken feathers and the addition of an inorganic absorbent, sepiolite, on their absorption capacity was investigated. The chemical and physical surface properties, like morphology, chemical composition, zeta potential, surface free energies and oil absorption capacities were analyzed. The Gibbs free energy of immersion wetting with oil and the work of adhesion of the adsorbents, calculated based on contact angle measurements, were confirmed by the tests of adsorption capacities according to the ASTM 726–12 standard. The results showed that pure loose feathers have the highest oil adsorption capacity, while feather pillows have only half, and composite sheets have only a quarter of this capacity. The addition of inorganic adsorbent sepiolite did not increase the absorption capacity of the composites.
Keywords: chicken feather fibers, composites, sepiolite, surface properties, oil adsorption, oil-spill management
Published in DKUM: 10.05.2024; Views: 183; Downloads: 27
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Abstract: Medical implant-associated infections resulting from biofilm formation triggered by unspecific protein adsorption arethe prevailing cause of implant failure. However, implant surfaces rendered with multifunctional bioactive nanocoatings offer apromising alternative to prevent the initial attachment of bacteria and effectively interrupt biofilm formation. The need to researchand develop novel and stable bioactive nanocoatings for medical implants and a comprehensive understanding of their properties incontact with the complex biological environment are crucial. In this study, we developed an aqueous stable and crosslinker-freepolyelectrolyte−surfactant complex (PESC) composed of a renewable cationic polysaccharide, chitosan, a lysine-based anionicsurfactant (77KS), and an amphoteric antibiotic, amoxicillin, which is widely used to treat a number of infections caused by bacteria.We successfully introduced the PESC as bioactive functional nanolayers on the“model”and“real”polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)surfaces under dynamic and ambient conditions. Besides their high stability and improved wettability, these uniformly depositednanolayers (thickness: 44−61 nm) with mixed charges exhibited strong repulsion toward three model blood proteins (serumalbumin,fibrinogen, andγ-globulin) and their competitive interactions in the mixture in real-time, as demonstrated using a quartzcrystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). The functional nanolayers with a maximum negative zeta potential (ζ:−19 to−30mV at pH 7.4), water content (1628−1810 ng cm−2), and hydration (low viscosity and elastic shear modulus) correlated with themass, conformation, and interaction nature of proteins. In vitro antimicrobial activity testing under dynamic conditions showed thatthe charged nanolayers actively inhibited the growth of both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcusaureus) bacteria compared to unmodified PDMS. Given the ease of fabrication of multifunctional and charged biobased coatingswith simultaneous protein-repellent and antimicrobial activities, the limitations of individual approaches could be overcome leadingto a better and advanced design of various medical devices (e.g., catheters, prosthetics, and stents).
Keywords: silicone implants, protein-repellent, antimicrobial, chitosan, lysine, bioactive coatings, adsorption, QCM-D
Published in DKUM: 15.04.2024; Views: 266; Downloads: 21
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Abstract: In the presented research, a facile, one-step method for the fabrication of cellulose nanofibrils/pectin (CNFs/PC) membranes is described, which were tested further for their ability to remove cationic dyes from the prepared model solutions. For this purpose, ten membranes were prepared with different quantities of CNFs and PC with/without citric acid (CA) or CaCl2 as mediated crosslinking agents, and they were characterised comprehensively in terms of their physical, chemical, and hydrophilic properties. All the prepared CNFs/PC membranes were hydrophilic with a Water Contact Angle (WCA) from 51.23◦ (without crosslinker) up to 78.30◦ (CaCl2 ) and swelling of up to 485% (without crosslinker), up to 437% (CaCl2 ) and up to 270% (CA). The stability of membranes was decreased with the increase in PC; thus, only four membranes (M1, M2, M3 and M5) were stable enough in water after 24 h, and these were additionally applied in the adsorption trials, using two structurally different cationic dyes, i.e., C.I. Basic Yellow 28 (BY28) and C.I. Basic Blue 22 (BB22), in four concentrations. The highest total surface charge of M3 (2.83 mmol/g) as compared to the other membranes influenced the maximal removal efficiency of both dyes, up to 37% (BY28) and up to 71% (BB22), depending on the initial dye concentration. The final characteristics of the membranes and, consequently, the dye’s absorption ability could be tuned easily by changing the ratio between the CNFs and PC, as well as the type and amount of crosslinker.
Keywords: cellulose nanofibrils, pectin, cationic dyes, adsorption, dye removal
Published in DKUM: 12.03.2024; Views: 320; Downloads: 32
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