Adsorption and degradation of norfloxacin by a novel molecular imprinting magnetic Fenton-like catalyst

In this study, a novel magnetically separable adsorbent, molecular imprinting magnetic gamma-Fe2O3/crosslinked chitosan composites (MIPs), were prepared by a microemulsion process. Adsorption and Fenton-like oxidative degradation of a model pharmaceutical pollutant norfloxacin (NOR) by using MIPs were investigated. Various characterization methods were used to study the properties of MIPs, and it is suggested that the hydroxyl groups are the main adsorption sites for NOR. MIPs present better selective adsorption for NOR than its reference antibiotic sulfadiazine. The NOR adsorption data can be well fitted by Langmuir isotherm model and pseudosecond-order kinetic model. The optimum pH range for NOR adsorption is 7-10. In addition, the MIP-catalyzed Fenton-like system (MIPs/H2O2) exhibits remarkably faster removal rate for NOR than the case of gamma-Fe2O3/H2O2. The result indicates that MIPs will be a good functional material in decontamination of pharmaceutical wastewaters since MIPs can be magnetically recycled after the treatment. (C) 2015 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.