Hidrología: investigaciones actuales

Comparative Study on the Efficiency of Novel Modified Chitosan-Based Electrospun Nanofibers for Removal of Fluoxetine from Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Amna Hassan Issa Khierallah1*, Amel Hadj Bouazza2 and Daniel Montplaisir3

Pharmaceutical residues, along with their metabolites and conjugates, are expelled from users through urine and faeces both during and after medical therapy. The elimination of this contaminant from wastewater is therefore the subject of intense attention. In this study, the antidepressant medication fluoxetine (FLX) was removed from the solution using a new technique based on electrospun nanofibers made of N-phthalic chitosan (NPCS) and N-succinyl chitosan (NSCS) combined with PEO as a copolymer for electrospinnability. In order to achieve the best nanofiber morphology as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Adding the right chemical groups to the surface of chitosan through chemical modification allows for the elimination of pharmaceutical contaminants (FLX). Using FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, the properties of modified chitosan (NPCS) and (NSCS) were studied. Consequently, FLX was chosen as a model pollutant. Experiments on the FLX solution were used to characterize the adsorption process using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV DAD). The processes were well described by the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second-order kinetics, the FLX was removed by changing the pH of the experimental settings to research the impact of the solution's pH. The media's pH needs to be adjusted in order to improve pollutant removal and have a high adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacities for NPCS/PEO and NSCS/PEO nanofibers, respectively, were 72.22% and 81.16%, which also showed that they were promising candidates for removing FLX from wastewater.