Biopolymer-based membrane functionalized with Teos for drugs identification

Full text: The groundwater contamination by drugs is a problem for human health. In the past years, the idea to use nanocellulose as a biopolymer-based membrane technology appears as a cutting-edge technology able to identify and separate different drugs from water [1].In this study, nanocellulose were functionalized with tetraethylorthosilicate (Teos), mixed with polyhydroxybutyrate(PHB) and used to prepare a membrane by phase inversion technique. The functionalization with Teos as a coupled agent is an innovation regarding selectivity of the drugs, promoting physicochemical interaction on membrane surface [2].The effectivity of functionalization for the membranes was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM)[3]. After that, the membrane efficiency to select drugs by hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity in water was tested immobilizing atenolol in the surface porous. The immobilization was measured by the Langmuir isotherm in the adsorption technique using Jar-test method adapted from ASTM D2035-19. The results show the efficiency of the functionalized membrane by the immobilization of the drug. The FTIR shows evidence that the silica observed in the OH bonds in the stretches of the silanols groups at 3750 cm^-1 and the siloxane group at 970 cm^-1. The color contrast of AFM images showed the silane deposition and the surface roughness in the membrane. In addition, XRD peaks in 16.9° and 23° showed the presence of cellulose I. To conclude, in preliminary tests, the functionalized membrane shows a significant decrease in atenolol in water. (author)