ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATION OF ALGINATE HYDROGEL COMPOSITES. IMPACT ON HEAVY METALS AND PHARMACEUTICAL POLLUTANTS REMOVAL

MARÍA FERNANDA HORST; MARÍA MALVINA SOLEDAD LENCINA

The Applications of Hydrogels

Nova publishers

Año: 2021; p. 241 - 268

Water pollution has become a critical issue in recent decades around the world. Inorganic pollutants such as heavy metals and organic compounds, particularly, pharmaceutical active compounds have received major attention due to their huge environmental impact. Currently, the development of an efficient, clean, and low-cost technology to remediate environmental problems is a great challenge for scientists and industrialists. In this context, novel adsorbent materials based on polymer or biopolymer hydrogel and inorganic fillers have become an eco-friendly and low-cost alternative to be applied as efficient tools for water sources remediation. Among biopolymers, alginates are commonly applied for hydrogels formation; alginate is the generic name given to the salts of alginic acid, a linear polysaccharide obtained from brown algae. This biopolymer can form stable hydrogels by interaction with polyvalent cations, presenting unique features such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, immunogenicity, and non-toxicity. On the other hand, clays exhibit interesting structural characteristics with active sites such as hydroxyl groups, Lewis and Brønsted acidity, and exchangeable interlayer cations. Even more, the high aspect ratio of clay minerals and the small dimensions of the individual layer render them particularly interested in several areas of material science due to their reinforcement effect when they are included into polymeric matrices. This chapter provides information about the current knowledge of heavy metals and pharmaceutical residues environmental impact and the application of alternative adsorbent materials based on alginate and alginate composite hydrogels.