Novel cellulose-based biosorbents in water treatment technologies:
 role of the intermolecular and surface interactions

National Science Centre, project number: 2022/47/D/ST8/02389

Contamination of the environment with materials, especially plastics of micro-, submicro- and nanometric sizes create new challenges not only for the methodology of environmental analysis but also for the methods of removing those particles from aqueous solutions. The main research objective of this proposal is the design and development of a sustainable water purification process from micro- and nanoplastics using ionic liquids immobilized on biodegradable supports. Small plastic parts accumulate in the aquatic environment, causing serious health issues, mainly due to entering the food chain. Materials of nano-, micro-, and submicrometric size are used in a wide range of product areas, and in the case of plastics, these materials also arise from larger waste. An important environmental challenge is their detection and analysis of the type of material one is dealing with, the more that they occur in many forms, but can also be transferred by any transport: air, soil, and water. There is a methodological gap regarding the analysis of those pollutants and their removal. Functionalization of various supports with ionic liquids allows for easy change in their behaviour, therefore, change in their sorption capabilities. No literature reports indicate the use of ionic liquid functionalized cellulose, or any other biomass-derived material for that matter, as an example of materials used for micro/sub-micro/nanoplastics removal. Nevertheless, numerous examples show clearly the importance of cellulose materials in the removal process, and point out that the change of its surface functionality remains the future challenge to be tackled with.

The main goal of this project is to develop a method of removing micro- and nanomaterials from aqueous solutions using ionic liquid functionalized cellulose nanostructures. For this purpose, appropriate ionic liquids will be designed, which will then be attached to properly prepared substrates (cellulose nanostructures). The obtained materials will be subjected to structural characteristics and physicochemical, and then used in the process of water purification from standard solutions of nano-/ submicro-/micromaterials. The point of reference mustn't be an in-depth analysis of the type of pollution, but only a quantitative analysis of the removal of a given type of pollution by the appropriate material.  The number of the obtained systems will allow, first of all, the creation of a wide library of materials, and will allow further modeling and design of the purification process of micro/sub-micro and nanoplastics.

The main benefit of the project will be the development of a material that removes micro- and nanoplastics, and the determination of the role of surface and intermolecular interactions affecting the effective purification of aqueous solutions. The newly designed materials could significantly contribute to the development of water purification techniques, and the determination of the impurity/sorbent interactions will allow for a better understanding of the removal of small polymer systems, and thus their more effective removal from the environment.