Tailoring Interactions of Random Copolymer Polyelectrolyte Complexes to Remove Nanoplastic Contaminants from Water

Jeremy Wang; Curt Waltmann; Caroline Harms; Sumeng Hu; John Hegarty; Benjamin Shindel; Qifeng Wang; Vinayak Dravid; Kenneth R. Shull; John M. Torkelson; Monica Olvera De La Cruz

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01028

Tailoring Interactions of Random Copolymer Polyelectrolyte Complexes to Remove Nanoplastic Contaminants from Water

Jeremy Wang, Curt Waltmann, Caroline Harms, Sumeng Hu, John Hegarty, Benjamin Shindel, Qifeng Wang, Vinayak Dravid, Kenneth R. Shull, John M. Torkelson, Monica Olvera De La Cruz^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigate the usage of polyelectrolyte complex materials for water remediation purposes, specifically their ability to remove nanoplastics from water, on which there is currently little to no prior research. We demonstrate that oppositely charged random copolymers are effective at quantitatively removing nanoplastic contamination from aqueous solution. The mechanisms underlying this remediation ability are explored through computational simulations, with corroborating quartz crystal microbalance adsorption experiments. We find that hydrophobic nanostructures and interactions likely play an important role.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	7514-7523
Number of pages	10
Journal	Langmuir
Volume	39
Issue number	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01028
State	Published - May 30 2023

Funding

This work was mainly supported by award 70NANB19H005 from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology as part of the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD). We also thank the support of the Department of Energy Award Number DE-SC0022332. C.W. was funded by the Northwestern University Nicholson Fellowship. J.M.T. acknowledges support via discretionary funds associated with a Walter P. Murphy Professorship. M.O.d.l.C. thanks the financial support of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation. The authors are grateful for the assistance and advice from Tirzah Abbott, the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) staff, Rebecca Sponenburg, the Quantitative Bio-Imaging Center (QBIC) staff, and the Northwestern High Throughput Analysis Laboratory (NU-HTA) staff. This work made use of the IMSERC NMR facility at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633) and Northwestern University. This work also made use of the KECK Biophysics facility (aqueous GPC) at Northwestern University,which is supported by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCI CCSG P30 CA060553). This work also made use of the EPIC facility of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (ECCS-2025633); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Surfaces and Interfaces
Spectroscopy
Electrochemistry

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10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01028

Cite this

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title = "Tailoring Interactions of Random Copolymer Polyelectrolyte Complexes to Remove Nanoplastic Contaminants from Water",

abstract = "We investigate the usage of polyelectrolyte complex materials for water remediation purposes, specifically their ability to remove nanoplastics from water, on which there is currently little to no prior research. We demonstrate that oppositely charged random copolymers are effective at quantitatively removing nanoplastic contamination from aqueous solution. The mechanisms underlying this remediation ability are explored through computational simulations, with corroborating quartz crystal microbalance adsorption experiments. We find that hydrophobic nanostructures and interactions likely play an important role.",

author = "Jeremy Wang and Curt Waltmann and Caroline Harms and Sumeng Hu and John Hegarty and Benjamin Shindel and Qifeng Wang and Vinayak Dravid and Shull, {Kenneth R.} and Torkelson, {John M.} and {Olvera De La Cruz}, Monica",

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language = "English (US)",

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AU - Waltmann, Curt

AU - Harms, Caroline

AU - Hu, Sumeng

AU - Hegarty, John

AU - Shindel, Benjamin

AU - Wang, Qifeng

AU - Dravid, Vinayak

AU - Shull, Kenneth R.

AU - Torkelson, John M.

AU - Olvera De La Cruz, Monica

PY - 2023/5/30

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AB - We investigate the usage of polyelectrolyte complex materials for water remediation purposes, specifically their ability to remove nanoplastics from water, on which there is currently little to no prior research. We demonstrate that oppositely charged random copolymers are effective at quantitatively removing nanoplastic contamination from aqueous solution. The mechanisms underlying this remediation ability are explored through computational simulations, with corroborating quartz crystal microbalance adsorption experiments. We find that hydrophobic nanostructures and interactions likely play an important role.

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Tailoring Interactions of Random Copolymer Polyelectrolyte Complexes to Remove Nanoplastic Contaminants from Water

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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