Fatty Acids-Based Eutectic Solvents Liquid Membranes for Removal of Sodium Diclofenac from Water

Abstract

Nowadays, the scarcity of clean fresh water is a major concern to public health. One of the main issues linked with this topic is the unavoidable contamination of water bodies with active pharmaceutical ingredients, which results from production and metabolization of prescribed and over the counter drugs closely related to human health and wellbeing. As the currently available techniques for removal of micropollutants (MPs) from wastewater are not sufficiently broad, efficient, and cost effective, new sustainable alternatives are required to prevent the contamination of water bodies which can compromise the viability of aquatic ecosystems and, ultimately, life on earth as we know it. Herein, a natural eutectic solvent (ES), based on fatty acids, is proposed to remove important MPs, sodium diclofenac, the most used nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drug, and a plasticizer, Bisphenol A (BPA), through liquid−liquid extraction (LLE), as well as preparation of liquid membranes. The extraction of sodium diclofenac through LLE reached an efficiency of (97 ± 1)% that was maintained when shifting to the liquid membranes while reducing the quantity of solvent to only 1.5% of that required in LLE. These membranes were reused through 10 cycles of extraction without major loss of efficiency. The optimal extraction efficiency of BPA using ES supported in membranes reached (63 ± 1)%. The easy preparation of hydrophobic natural eutectic solvents-based absorbent materials through their impregnation in porous inert supports enables the development of highly efficient and costeffective adsorption technology for the removal MPs from water.