Premium
Environmentally Friendly Eutectogels Comprising l‐a mino Acids and Deep Eutectic Solvents: Efficient Materials for Wastewater Treatment
Author(s) -
Marullo Salvatore,
Meli Alessandro,
Dintcheva Nadka. Tz.,
Infurna Giulia,
Rizzo Carla,
D'Anna Francesca
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chempluschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 61
ISSN - 2192-6506
DOI - 10.1002/cplu.202000017
Subject(s) - deep eutectic solvent , choline chloride , cationic polymerization , wastewater , adsorption , aqueous solution , environmentally friendly , chemical engineering , sorbent , chemistry , eutectic system , green chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , supramolecular chemistry , waste management , molecule , ecology , alloy , engineering , biology
Current concerns for sustainability and the environment make low‐impact materials desirable for environmental remediation and, in particular wastewater treatment. We obtained supramolecular gels of l‐a mino acids in the deep eutectic solvent formed by choline chloride and phenylacetic acid. After gel characterization, and investigating gel–sol transition temperatures, gelation kinetics, rheological properties, and morphology, the gels were applied as sorbents to remove cationic dyes from aqueous solutions. The effects of the pH, dye nature, volume, and concentration of wastewater were analyzed, and the best result was obtained with a l ‐phenylalanine‐based eutectogel. It can be reused for at least 9 times without losing efficiency, also with dye mixtures. Interestingly, this gel can be loaded onto columns to decolorize flowing solutions, achieving 85 % of removal efficiency in only 10 minutes and allowing its reuse for at least 4 cycles. In terms of adsorption capacity, this eutectogel is competitive with efficient gel‐based dye sorbent systems, with a value 1930 mg/g reached at a high concentration of rhodamine B 479 mg/L.