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Towards improved adsorption of phenolic compounds by surface chemistry tailoring of silica aerogels

  • Invited Paper: Nano- and macroporous materials (aerogels, xerogels, cryogels, etc.)
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Abstract

The high toxicity/volatility and low biodegradation of phenolic compounds are serious concerns in terms of environmental and health impact—their recommended max. value for drinking water is 0.005 mg/L. They are usually removed from effluents by adsorption, but they show a complex interaction behavior with adsorbents, because the hydroxyl group and the hydrophobic aromatic ring are very close. In this work, the versatility of Si chemistry was explored to tailor the surface chemistry of silica aerogels and improve their adsorption performance towards phenolic compounds. Methyltrimethoxysilane and tetramethylorthosilicate were combined to adjust the hydrophobicity of the obtained aerogels. In the next stage, β-cyclodextrin, with its highly hydrophobic cavity, was grafted into the gels to improve the capturing of aromatic rings. For a sustainable linkage of β-cyclodextrin to silica, the methyltrimethoxysilane/tetramethylorthosilicate precursor system was modified by adding an epoxy functionalized silane. A first screening of the adsorption performance shows a 1.5–2-fold increase of the adsorption capacity and removal efficiencies of the epoxy-cyclodextrin-modified aerogel toward phenol and p-cresol when compared to aerogel counterpart without modification. Freundlich isotherm model was the most suitable to describe the equilibrium data of aerogels with or without β-cyclodextrin, with the curves showing favorable profiles, more evident in the case of aerogels with β-cyclodextrin. Apart from the improving of the sorption capacity for phenolic compounds (achieving a maximum of 60 mg g−1 in the case of p-cresol), the utilization of the biodegradable β-cyclodextrin moiety obtained from natural and sustainable resources is a further asset of the epoxy-cyclodextrin-modified aerogel.

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Acknowledgements

Work developed under the project “CleanOlGel—Functionalization of silica based aerogels for treatment of wastewater with phenolic compounds”, Contract No. 34078, by the consortium Active Aerogels/University of Coimbra/Ventilaqua, funded by ADI, through the Promotion of Research and Technological Development System of QREN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIEPQPF, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790, Coimbra, Portugal

    Telma Matias, Joana Marques, Hajar Maleki, Margarida J. Quina, Licínio Gando-Ferreira, António Portugal & Luísa Durães

  2. Active Aerogels, Pedro Nunes Institute (Building C), Coimbra, 3030-199, Portugal

    Filipe Conceição

  3. CQC, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3004-535, Portugal

    Artur J. M. Valente

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  1. Telma Matias
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Correspondence to Luísa Durães.

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Matias, T., Marques, J., Conceição, F. et al. Towards improved adsorption of phenolic compounds by surface chemistry tailoring of silica aerogels. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 84, 409–421 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-017-4373-4

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