Students find antibiotic adsorbent from medical wastewater

A study by students of the University of Natural Sciences found that antibiotic adsorbent in wastewater is nearly 98% and can be reused.

The new material was created based on the process of synthesizing and transforming the surface of nano aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) particles with polyanion poly styrenesulfonate (PSS) , the polymer used to remove ions, applied in engineering. and medical. The study was conducted by Nguyen Ngoc Trung, a student in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and his colleagues, April 14, published in the Q1  Journal of Molecular Liquids .

The findings have important implications for improving hospital wastewater that contains many antibiotics, helping to balance the aquatic environment and limiting health effects. 

Nanoparticles of aluminum oxide (AL ₂ O ₃ ) are synthesized and transformed. (Photo: Nano Material). 

Using X-ray diffraction techniques and transmission electron microscopes, the team determined an aluminum oxide particle with an alpha structure of 40 nanometers, a surface area of ​​6.08m ² / g. The conversion of the surface of aluminum oxide particles with PSS obtains new material, capable of adsorbing antibiotic treatment in medical wastewater. The adsorbed antibiotic is ciprofloxacin (CFX) , the antibiotic used to prevent the growth of bacteria in the course of disease.

Experimental results show that antibiotic adsorption capacity of the material reaches 97.8%, the removal efficiency in hospital wastewater samples actually reaches 75%. The effective difference, affecting antibiotic adsorption may be due to pH, exposure time, absorbed dose. In addition, this material can be reused with antibiotic removal efficiency in wastewater up to 96%.

Currently, the important parameters affecting the adsorption of antibiotics are being studied and optimized by the team. 

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