Facile synthesis of a magnetic molecularly-imprinted polymer adsorbent for solid-phase extraction of diclofenac from water

Abstract

Numerous pollutants endanger the safety and purity of water, making water pollution a major worldwide concern. The health of people and aquatic ecosystems are at risk from these contaminants, which include hazardous microbes, industrial waste, and agricultural runoff. Fortunately, there appears to be a viable option to address this problem with adsorptive water treatment techniques. The present study presents a magnetic adsorbent (MMIP) based on molecularly imprinted polyaniline and magnetite nanoparticles for the solid-phase extraction of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory medication, from industrial wastewater. The adsorbent nanomaterial was characterized using dynamic light scattering, zeta potential measurement, vibrating sample magnetometry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The MMIP demonstrated a particle size of 86.3 nm and an adsorption capacity of 139.7 mg g⁻¹ at 600 mg L⁻¹ of diclofenac and after a 200 min incubation period. The highest %removal was attained at pH range of 3–7. The adsorption process follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model. In addition, it was found that the adsorption process is enthalpy-driven and may occur via hydrogen bonding and/or van der Waals interactions.