Steroid estrogens (SEs) are significant endocrine-disrupting compounds and major environmental micropollutants, impacting ecosystems at very low concentrations. They exhibit potent estrogenic effects, leading to reproductive, neuro-endocrine, and cardiovascular issues, as well as potential immunotoxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. The extensive use of SEs results in serious wastewater contamination, persisting even post-treatment. Present in the environment at µg/L or even ng/L levels, there is an urgent need for effective technologies to remove SEs from water.
This study introduces quaternized composite poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate/graphene oxide (PDE/GO) adsorbent for estrone (E1) removal from water. PDE adsorbent were synthesized via precipitation polymerization in a water/ethanol mixture, initiated with potassium persulfate at 80 °C for 24 hours. Composite PDE/GO adsorbent were prepared under similar conditions and then PDE and PDE/GO adsorbents were quaternized using iodomethane. We evaluated the effectiveness of quaternized PDE/GO, quaternized PDE, and GO adsorbents for removal E1 from water at E1 initial concentration of 200 µg/L, at 25 ºC and a pH range of 5 to 9, using 2 mg/mL of each adsorbent during 120 minutes. While quaternized PDE and GO demonstrated a removal efficacy of 40-60%, the quaternized composite PDE/GO adsorbent exhibited remarkable 100% removal of E1 within 5 minutes across all pH levels, attributed to the synergistic effect of the quaternized composite PDE/GO adsorbent.
Acknowledgment: The authors wish to thank the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TH80020001) for the financial support.
References:
[1] Šálek, P.; Trousil, J.; Nováčková, J.; Hromádková, J.; Mahun, A.; Kobera, L. Poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate]nanogel by dispersion polymerization for inhibition of pathogenic bacteria. RSC Adv 2021, 11, 33461. DOI: 10.1039/d1ra06231j