Mesoporous silica adsorbents modified with amino polycarboxylate ligands – functional characteristics, health and environmental effects

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 406; p. 124698
• Main Authors: Seisenbaeva, Gulaim A., Ali, Lamiaa M.A., Vardanyan, Ani, Gary-Bobo, Magali, Budnyak, Tetyana M., Kessler, Vadim G., Durand, Jean-Olivier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 15-03-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Amino carboxylate ligands; Biochemicals; Biokemikalier; Chemical Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Health and environmental effects; Hybrid adsorbent; Kromasil(R) silica; Kromasil® silica; Miljövetenskap; Organic chemistry; REE extraction and separation; Hybrid adsorbent; Health and environmental effects; Kromasil® silica; REE extraction and separation; Amino carboxylate ligands
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124698

A series of hybrid adsorbents were produced by surface modification with amino polycarboxylate ligands of industrially available microparticles (MP) of Kromasil® mesoporous nanostructured silica beads, bearing grafted amino propyl ligands. Produced materials, bearing covalently bonded functions as EDTA and TTHA, original Kromasil®, bearing amino propyl ligands, and bare particles, obtained by thermal treatment of Kromasil® in air, were characterized by SEM-EDS, AFM, FTIR, TGA and gas sorption techniques. Adsorption kinetics and capacity of surface-modified particles to adsorb Rare Earth Elements (REE), crucial for extraction in recycling processes, were evaluated under dynamic conditions, revealing specificity matching the ligand nature and the size of REE cations. A detailed comparison with earlier reported adsorbents for REE extraction was presented. The cytotoxicity was assessed using four different types of healthy cells, human skeletal muscles derived cells (SKMDC), fibroblast cells, macrophage cells (RAW264.7), and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), indicating lower toxicity of ligand-free MP than MP bearing amino poly-carboxylate functions. Internalization of the MP inside the cells and release of nitric oxide were observed. In addition, zebrafish embryos were exposed to high concentrations of MP and did not show any pronounced toxicity.
[Display omitted]
•Kromasil® was functionalized with amino poly carboxylic ligands, EDTA and TTHA.•Morphology and functional characteristics of obtained adsorbents were evaluated.•Element-specific capacity in uptake of rare earth elements were confirmed.•Materials showed dose and time dependent toxic effects on four human cell lines.•No toxic environmental effects were observed with zebrafish embryos as model.