Fe(III)-polyuronic acid photochemistry: radical chemistry in natural polysaccharide

Aerogels have been widely used in the adsorption of pollutants because of their large specific surface area. As an environmentally friendly natural polysaccharide, cellulose is a good candidate for the preparation of aerogels due to its wide sources and abundant polar groups. In this paper, an approach to construct cellulose nanofibers aerogels with both the good mechanical property and the high pollutants adsorption capability through chemical crosslinking was explored. On this basis, TiO2 nanoparticles were loaded on the aerogel through the sol-gel method followed by the hydrothermal method, thereby the enriched pollutants in the aerogel could be degraded synchronously. The chemical cross-linker not only helps build the three-dimensional network structure of aerogels, but also provides loading sites for TiO2. The degradation efficiency of pollutants by the TiO2@CNF Aerogel can reach more than 90% after 4 h, and the efficiency is still more than 70% after five cycles. The prepared TiO2@CNF Aerogels have high potential in the field of environmental management, because of the high efficiency of treating organic pollutes and the sustainability of the materials. The work also provides a choice for the functional utilization of cellulose, offering a valuable method to utilize the large amount of cellulose in nature.

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Chitosan Adsorbent Derivatives for Pharmaceuticals Removal from Effluents: A Review

Macromol ◽

10.3390/macromol1020011 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 130-154

Author(s):

Efstathios V. Liakos ◽

Maria Lazaridou ◽

Georgia Michailidou ◽

Ioanna Koumentakou ◽

Dimitra A. Lambropoulou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emerging Contaminants ◽

Low Cost ◽

Value Added ◽

Ph Effects ◽

Hydroxyl Groups ◽

Research Papers ◽

Natural Polysaccharide ◽

Best Fitting ◽

Isotherm And Kinetic Models ◽

Published Research

Chitin is mentioned as the second most abundant and important natural biopolymer in worldwide scale. The main sources for the extraction and exploitation of this natural polysaccharide polymer are crabs and shrimps. Chitosan (poly-β-(1 → 4)-2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucose) is the most important derivative of chitin and can be used in a wide variety of applications including cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, food, etc., giving this substance high value-added applications. Moreover, chitosan has applications in adsorption because it contains amino and hydroxyl groups in its molecules, and can thus contribute to many possible adsorption interactions between chitosan and pollutants (pharmaceuticals/drugs, metals, phenols, pesticides, etc.). However, it must be noted that one of the most important techniques of decontamination is considered to be adsorption because it is simple, low-cost, and fast. This review emphasizes on recently published research papers (2013–2021) and briefly describes the chemical modifications of chitosan (grafting, cross-linking, etc.), for the adsorption of a variety of emerging contaminants from aqueous solutions, and characterization results. Finally, tables are depicted from selected chitosan synthetic routes and the pH effects are discussed, along with the best-fitting isotherm and kinetic models.

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