Contact
    Start Publications Bio-inspired membranes for adsorption of arsenic via ...
    ←  Publication Finder
    Attension

    Bio-inspired membranes for adsorption of arsenic via immobilized L-Cysteine in highly hydrophilic electrospun nanofibers

    Year: 2022

    Journal: Chem. Eng. Res. Des., Volume 185, SEP, page 108–118

    Authors: Picon, David; Torasso, Nicolas; Baudrit, Jose Roberto Vega; Cerveny, Silvina; Goyanes, Silvia

    Organizations: University of Buenos Aires-UBA (UBACYT) [200201701 00381BA]; ANPCyT [PICT 2017-2362]; MINCyT [IF-2021-4378615-APN-SSCI#MCT]; Consejo Superior de Investigacion Cientificas (CSIC), Spain [I-COOP+ 2020 COOPB20502]; Basque Government [IT1566-22]; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades [PID2019-104650GB-C21]

    Keywords: Arsenic adsorption; PVA membranes; Electrospun nanofibers; L-Cysteine

    Arsenic is a concern for its ubiquity in the environment and its accumulative and toxic properties. Water is often contaminated with this chemical, so developing simple, scalable, and green water treatment technologies is urgently needed. We show here that the ability of the L-Cysteine biomolecule to form complexes with arsenic inspires its use as a natural bio-inspired sorbent to develop advanced functional materials. We establish for the first time a way to chemically anchor L-Cysteine (L-Cys) inside highly hydrophilic nanofibers to create a membrane capable of lowering As(V) concentration below the WHO limit of 10 lig/L. A homogeneous precursor mixture of an aqueous solution of PVA and LCys (5 wt% and 10 wt% of L-Cys with respect to PVA) was electrospun to obtain a nanofibrous membrane. Successful immobilization of L-Cys within PVA nanofibers is achieved during heat treatment at 190 degrees C. It occurs through esterification reactions between the hydroxyl group on the PVA chain and the carboxylic acid on L-Cys. Arsenic sorption (as As (V)) was assessed by batch experiments in aqueous media and at a controlled pH range. The maximum removal efficiency was achieved at pH 7, supporting the formation of thiolate complexes as the primary mechanism for arsenic sorption. We show that L-Cys confinement makes arsenic diffusion inside the nanofibers a rate-limiting process in adsorption kinetics, following the pseudo first order equation. Overall, this work establishes a novel arsenic remediation strategy and encourages the research of nature
    View publication