Multiamine-Grafted magnetic nanocatchers for enhanced removal of chlortetracycline from aqueous solution

Abstract

Human health and ecosystems have been seriously threatened by the increasing contamination of antibiotics in water resources. Therefore, it is crucial to develop effective adsorbents for the efficient removal of antibiotics from aquatic environments. Herein, a magnetic and multitentacle nanodevice is designed and synthesized, which consists of an Fe₃O₄ core and a multiamine shell (M@LMa). Notably, multitentacled grippers of aminated lignin on the surface of multifunctional nanocatchers with enhanced capturing ability are covalently anchored onto magnetic cores through 3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane, which significantly improves the stability of the nanostructure. In the presence of chlortetracycline (CTC), the proposed nanocatchers exhibit excellent capability for the effective elimination of CTC from aqueous solutions. In addition, M@LMa demonstrates both specific CTC capture via noncovalent interactions, such as π-π stacking, hydrogen bonding interactions, and electrostatic interactions, and efficient magnetic separation for the elimination of antibiotics from aqueous solutions. This study paves the way for the development of multifunctional lignin-based magnetic nanodevices and their applications in the removal of antibiotics from wastewater.