Versatile nanostructured $\protect \text{SiO}_2$/cross-linked polyelectrolyte composites for emerging pollutants removal from aqueous media

Abstract

Linear and branched poly(ethyleneimines) and poly(acrylic acid) have been used in the construction of nanostructured thin multilayer organic shell onto silica microparticles. After glutaraldehyde selective crosslinking of part of the amino groups, the polyanionic chains were removed on strong basic media. The core/shell microparticles, with amino groups active sites, could interact with anionic charged species dissolved in aqueous media. Batch/column experiments show that the polyanion extracted composites present the best performance toward gallic acid sorption ($\sim $30 mg/g composite), as compared to the non-extracted samples ($\sim $6 mg/g). The multiple sorption/desorption studies demonstrated the reusability of the composites for water/wastewater treatment applications in at least 10 consecutive cycles without significant loss of sorption capacity.

Keywords

• Composites
• Polyelectrolytes
• Daisogel
• Cross-linking multilayers
• Gallic acid