Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 1;14(17):4994.
doi: 10.3390/ma14174994.

A Review on the Application of Zeolites and Mesoporous Silica Materials in the Removal of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Antibiotics from Water

Agnieszka Grela  1   2 , Joanna Kuc  2   3 , Tomasz Bajda  2
Affiliations
Review

A Review on the Application of Zeolites and Mesoporous Silica Materials in the Removal of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Antibiotics from Water

Agnieszka Grela et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Zeolites and mesoporous silica materials are effective adsorbents that can be useful for the removal of various pharmaceuticals including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics from low-quality water. This paper summarizes the properties and basic characteristics of zeolites and mesoporous silica materials and reviews the recent studies on the efficacy of the adsorption of selected non-steroidal medicinal products and antibiotics by these adsorbents to assess the potential opportunities and challenges of using them in water treatment. It was found that the adsorption capacity of sorbents with high silica content is related to their surface hydrophobicity (hydrophilicity) and structural features, such as micropore volume and pore size, as well as the properties of the studied medicinal products. This review can be of help to scientists to develop an effective strategy for reducing the amount of these two groups of pharmaceuticals in wastewater.

Keywords: drug analysis; mesoporous sorbents; wastewater purification; zeolites.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Concentrations of some pharmaceuticals (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and analgesics) recorded in the world in selected water types: (a) tap water [25], hospital wastewater, and surface water (lakes) [26]; (b) river water, groundwater [27], and seawater [28]; (c) surface water [29], wastewater effluents, and wastewater secondary [27,30]; and (d) wastewater influents [30], municipal wastewater [29], and hospital effluents [30].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Typical pharmaceuticals and their approximate nonmetabolized fractions entering sewage after being ingested and subjected to human metabolism: ibuprofen [40,41,42]; diclofenac [40,41,43]; trimethoprim [40]; tetracycline [40,44]; sulfamethoxazole [37,44,45]; erythromycin [42,46]; and amplicillin [40,44].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structural properties of zeolites described in the literature for the removal of selected NSAIDs ([SD]—sodium diclofenac, [I]—ibuprofen, and [N]—naproxen) and selected antibiotics ([E]—erythromycin and [S]—sulfamethoxazole), ZSM-5 [SD], hierarchical ZSM-5 [SD]—[157]; natural Jordanian zeolite [SD, I]—[159] MOR18 [SD, S], TMOR18 (50% (w/w) TiO2) [SD, S], MOR240 [SD, S], TMOR240 (50% (w/w) TiO2) [SD, S]—[162]; MNCZ [SD, I, N]—[163]; Y [E], MOR400 [E]—[98]; Zeocem a.s. 200 μm [E], Zeocem a.s. 0.5–1 mm [E], Zeocem a.s. 1–2.5 mm [E]—[164]; ZSM-5 [N], MOR200 [N]—[99]; FAU-1 [S], FAU-2 [S]—[62]; Y [S], MOR [S], ZSM-5 [S]—[165]; Y [S]—[166].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Factors influencing the removal efficiency of selected zeolites: sodium diclofenac—ZSM-5, hierarchical ZSM-5, natural Jordanian zeolite (intermediate silica), TMOR18, TMOR240, MNCZ; ibuprofen—natural Jordanian zeolite (intermediate silica), MNCZ; naproxen—MNCZ, ZSM-5, MOR200.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Factors influencing the sorption of sulfamethoxazole on zeolites: FAU-1, FAU-2, zeolite Y, MOR, ZSM-5, TMOR18, and TMOR240.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Factors influencing the sorption of diclofenac, ibuprofen, and ketoprofen on mesoporous materials: SBA-15, MCM-41, and TMS-SBA-15.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Factors influencing the sorption of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim on TMS-SBA-15 and tetracycline on A-MCM-41.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kümmerer K. The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment due to human use—Present knowledge and future challenges. J. Environ. Manag. 2009;90:2354–2366. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.01.023. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rivera-Utrilla J., Sanchez-Polo M., García Maria Ángeles F., Prados-Joya G., Perez R.O. Pharmaceuticals as emerging contaminants and their removal from water. A review. Chemosphere. 2013;93:1268–1287. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.07.059. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rivera-Utrilla J., Gómez-Pacheco C.V., Sanchez-Polo M., Peñalver J.J.L., Perez R.O. Tetracycline removal from water by adsorption/bioadsorption on activated carbons and sludge-derived adsorbents. J. Environ. Manag. 2013;131:16–24. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.09.024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bush K. Antimicrobial agents. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 1997;1:169–175. doi: 10.1016/S1367-5931(97)80006-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Halling-Sørensen B., Nielsen S.N., Lanzky P., Ingerslev F., Lützhøft H.H., Jørgensen S. Occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceutical substances in the environment- A review. Chemosphere. 1998;36:357–393. doi: 10.1016/S0045-6535(97)00354-8. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources