The project of our team "Comprehensive study of adsorbents based on hexagonal boron nitride nanoparticles for wastewater treatment of drugs" was supported by the Russian Science Foundation!
At present, the development of new drugs and their production has become a powerful branch of science and industry. Such growth of the pharmaceutical industry and widespread use of drugs inevitably leads to their release into the environment. In this regard, the search for effective techniques and new ways to remove antibiotics from water objects is currently an important scientific and practical task. The rapid development of nanotechnology, in particular the field of low-dimensional nanomaterials, can make a significant contribution to the development of this field and the improvement of the described situation. Adsorption of drug molecules onto a safe carrier is the most preferable purification methods, since they offer the possibility of using simple chemical-physical processes for cleaning water, air, surfaces from organic pollutants, which makes this process environmentally friendly and economical. Nanomaterials with a high specific surface area are ideal platforms for the development and production of cheap and highly effective biosensors, biofilters and carriers of antibacterial agents. These materials include hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). This material has a unique set of properties: low specific density, high thermal and chemical stability, heat resistance, biocompatibility, good adsorption capacity, and a wide forbidden zone. Thus, nanostructured h-BN is an ideal candidate as an absorbent material. However, the adsorption efficiency on the perfect surface of hexagonal boron nitride is hampered by the small number of activated centers which requires its modification. The novelty of the project is to perform a systematic experimental-theoretical study and to obtain a general model of sorption/desorption of various antibacterial agents on the surface of modified boron nitride nanoparticles. The main objective of this project is to study the sorption and desorption processes of different types of antibiotics as applied to h-BN nanostructures by both theoretical and experimental methods. Such a systematic approach will allow to study in depth the process of sorption/desorption of antibiotics of different classes, to describe the type of binding of the analyte with the adsorbent, to determine the nature of sorption and to study its dependence on external conditions. Nanoparticles based on h-BN with different surface modifications (introducing defects, decorating with metal atoms and/or nanoparticles, introducing foreign atoms into the structure, etc.) will be studied. Various groups of antibiotics will be selected as analytes, including macrolides (erythromycin), sulfonamides (sulfamethoxazole), diaminopyrimidines (trimethoprim), aminoglycosides (ciprofloxacin), tetracyclines (tetracycline) and β-lactams (penicillin). Such a comprehensive study will eventually allow the production of effective adsorbents and membranes based on them for wastewater treatment from contamination by pharmaceuticals.
The project PI is Dr. Liubov Sorokina.