Nature-derived hydrogel for microplastic removal

IF 21.8 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, COMPOSITES

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Pub Date : 2025-08-30 DOI:10.1007/s42114-025-01441-8

Seungoh Jung, Jungkyu Kim, Sangwoo Park, Junsik Bang, Heecheol Yun, Sungwook Won, Seojin Kim, Hyoseung Lim, Seon-Gyeong Kim, Jong-Chan Kim, Hyoung-Joon Jin, In-Gyu Choi, Hyo Won Kwak

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Abstract

The accumulation of microplastics in aquatic environments poses a significant threat to ecosystems and human health. In response, we developed a sustainable and bio-based adsorbent hydrogel composed of chitin and cationic lignin for efficient removal of nanoplastics from wastewater. The composite hydrogel exhibited excellent mechanical integrity in aqueous media and fully recovered its structure after mechanical deformation, ensuring durability during operation. Importantly, adsorption experiments were conducted under neutral pH conditions to reflect realistic aquatic environments, and the hydrogel achieved a maximum adsorption capacity of 1,790.8 mg/g—substantially surpassing the performance of previously reported nanoplastic adsorbents. Adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order model, while the isotherm behavior followed the Langmuir model. The removal mechanism was governed by electrostatic interactions between the cationic lignin and negatively charged nanoplastics, as well as π-π interactions facilitated by the aromatic structure of lignin. Furthermore, the hydrogel retained 93.7% of its initial adsorption efficiency after three reuse cycles, demonstrating good regeneration potential. These findings highlight the synergistic effect of combining natural polysaccharide and aromatic biopolymer components to produce a high-performance microplastic adsorbent. The results provide valuable insights into the design of environmentally friendly, renewable-material-based adsorbents for hazardous pollutant remediation and align with global efforts to develop sustainable water purification technologies.

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源自自然的水凝胶，用于去除微塑料

微塑料在水生环境中的积累对生态系统和人类健康构成重大威胁。为此，我们开发了一种由甲壳素和阳离子木质素组成的可持续生物基吸附水凝胶，用于高效去除废水中的纳米塑料。复合水凝胶在水介质中表现出优异的机械完整性，在机械变形后完全恢复其结构，保证了使用过程中的耐久性。重要的是，为了反映真实的水生环境，在中性pH条件下进行了吸附实验，水凝胶的最大吸附容量为1790.8 mg/g，大大超过了之前报道的纳米塑料吸附剂的性能。吸附动力学符合拟二阶模型，等温行为符合Langmuir模型。木质素的阳离子与带负电荷的纳米塑料之间的静电相互作用以及木质素的芳香结构促进的π-π相互作用控制了去除机制。经3次重复使用后，水凝胶的吸附效率仍保持在初始吸附效率的93.7%，具有良好的再生潜力。这些发现突出了天然多糖与芳香族生物聚合物组分结合制备高性能微塑料吸附剂的协同效应。研究结果为设计环境友好的、基于可再生材料的吸附剂来修复有害污染物提供了有价值的见解，并与全球开发可持续水净化技术的努力保持一致。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials Multiple-

CiteScore

26.00

自引率

21.40%

发文量

185

期刊介绍： Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials is a leading international journal that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration among materials scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists, and physicists working on composites, including nanocomposites. Our aim is to facilitate rapid scientific communication in this field. The journal publishes high-quality research on various aspects of composite materials, including materials design, surface and interface science/engineering, manufacturing, structure control, property design, device fabrication, and other applications. We also welcome simulation and modeling studies that are relevant to composites. Additionally, papers focusing on the relationship between fillers and the matrix are of particular interest. Our scope includes polymer, metal, and ceramic matrices, with a special emphasis on reviews and meta-analyses related to materials selection. We cover a wide range of topics, including transport properties, strategies for controlling interfaces and composition distribution, bottom-up assembly of nanocomposites, highly porous and high-density composites, electronic structure design, materials synergisms, and thermoelectric materials. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials follows a rigorous single-blind peer-review process to ensure the quality and integrity of the published work.