Development of Layered Double Hydroxide/Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles Systems for Environmental Applications: Pharmaceuticals Degradation, Pathogens Inactivation and Sensing

• Grant number: 23/07220-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Rogéria Rocha Gonçalves
• Grantee: Nayara de Melo Costa Serge
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/08111-2 - Development of rare earth based light converters: luminescent markers, optical sensors, and amplifiers, AP.TEM

Abstract

In recent decades, pharmaceuticals, responsible for saving millions of lives, have emerged as a new class of environmental contaminants. Considering the inefficiency of conventional treatments in treatment stations (ETE) combined with the lack of current legislation to control the presence of drugs in wastewater, the development of strategies and methods for their detection and removal becomes essential. Lamellar Double Hydroxides (HDL) and cysteamine copper nanoparticles (Nps Cu-Cis) have gained recent research interest in environmental remediation due to their multifunctional properties, however, they are still little investigated. HDLs have a high surface area, flexibility for incorporating cations of different elements and valences into the same structure with low leaching, considerable chemical and thermal stability, low toxicity, low production cost, ease of synthesis and application under conditions of neutrality. On the other hand, Cu-Cis is a nanoparticulate sensitizer with catalytic and optical properties that can be excited with ultraviolet light, microwave radiation, ultrasound and x-rays to generate highly reactive oxygen species or emit photons in the UV-Vis region.In summary, this work aims to develop HDL/Nps Cu-Cis composites to take advantage of the multifunctional properties of both materials and apply them in the removal and sensing of drugs present in effluents. The objective is: (i) The synthesis of AB-CO3 type HDLs, where A= Mg2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+, and B= Al3+, Fe3+ and Y3+, with the incorporation of lanthanide ions such as Ce3+ and Eu3+. (ii) Improvement of the catalytic and optical properties of the HDL/Nps Cu-Cis systems obtained. (iii) Its application in the simultaneous degradation/sensing of the drugs sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin and 5-Fluorouracil in effluents. (iv) Investigation of the performance of the system for the inactivation of the pathogens E.coli and Enterococcus faecalis present in effluents.