Nanoporous Polymeric Material for Remediation of PAHs Polluted Water

Abstract

A new nanoporous polymer was prepared using non covalent molecular imprinting technique to remediate PAHs contaminated water. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) microspheres size range between 10 and 20 μm were synthesized in acetonitrile using 4 PAHs mix as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linking monomer. The removal efficiency of the nanoporous polymeric material (NPM) for mixed PAHs (benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and chrysene) was studied using adsorption equilibrium experiments. The linear adsorption isotherm and the independent adsorption in binary isotherm indicated that the selected PAHs are mainly adsorbed onto the NPM by a partition mechanism. The adsorption capacity of the NPM (4.25 μg g⁻¹) was 3-fold higher than the commercially used activated carbon. Washing with methanol/acetic acid, the NPM could be regenerated for re-adsorption of PAHs. No significant decline in the PAHs removal efficiency of the NPM was observed repeated used for 25 adsorption-desorption cycles. This study demonstrated that the NPM has potential to remediate PAHs polluted water.

Key Words:

• adsorption capacity
• molecular imprinting
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• reusable adsorbents
• selective adsorption

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi and the Planning Commission, Government of India for grant-in-aid under Supra Institutional Project: Environmental Molecular Sciences (SIP-16/3.3).