Dual-Responsive Hydrogels for Mercury Ion Detection and Removal from Wastewater
Aurel Diacon,
Florin Albota,
Alexandra Mocanu,
Oana Brincoveanu,
Alice Ionela Podaru,
Traian Rotariu,
Ahmad A. Ahmad,
Edina Rusen,
Gabriela Toader
Affiliations
Aurel Diacon
Military Technical Academy “Ferdinand I”, 39-49 G. Cosbuc Blvd., 050141 Bucharest, Romania
Florin Albota
Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului Street, 077125 Magurele, Romania
Alexandra Mocanu
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, National University of Science and Technology Politechnica Bucharest, 1-7 Gh. Polizu Street, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Oana Brincoveanu
National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies—IMT Bucharest, 126A Erou Iancu Nicolae Street, 077190 Bucharest, Romania
Alice Ionela Podaru
Military Technical Academy “Ferdinand I”, 39-49 G. Cosbuc Blvd., 050141 Bucharest, Romania
Traian Rotariu
Military Technical Academy “Ferdinand I”, 39-49 G. Cosbuc Blvd., 050141 Bucharest, Romania
Ahmad A. Ahmad
Department of Physical Sciences, Jordan University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan
Edina Rusen
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies, National University of Science and Technology Politechnica Bucharest, 1-7 Gh. Polizu Street, 011061 Bucharest, Romania
Gabriela Toader
Military Technical Academy “Ferdinand I”, 39-49 G. Cosbuc Blvd., 050141 Bucharest, Romania
This study describes the development of a fast and cost-effective method for the detection and removal of Hg2+ ions from aqueous media, consisting of hydrogels incorporating chelating agents and a rhodamine derivative (to afford a qualitative evaluation of the heavy metal entrapment inside the 3D polymeric matrix). These hydrogels, designed for the simultaneous detection and entrapment of mercury, were obtained through the photopolymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPSA) and N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP), utilizing N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as crosslinker, in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a rhodamine B derivative, and one of the following chelating agents: phytic acid, 1,3-diamino-2-hydroxypropane-tetraacetic acid, triethylenetetramine-hexaacetic acid, or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt. The rhodamine derivative had a dual purpose in this study: firstly, it was incorporated into the hydrogel to allow the qualitative evaluation of mercury entrapment through its fluorogenic switch-off abilities when sensing Hg2+ ions; secondly, it was used to quantitatively evaluate the level of residual mercury from the decontaminated aqueous solutions, via the UV-Vis technique. The ICP-MS analysis of the hydrogels also confirmed the successful entrapment of mercury inside the hydrogels and a good correlation with the UV-Vis method.
