Functionally-Designed Chitosan-based hydrogel beads for adsorption of sulfamethoxazole with light regeneration

Adsorption method has been widely used in the removal of emerging contaminants. However, many adsorbents are puzzled by key obstacles for effective and simple regeneration. In this work, the functionally-designed graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) embedded chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol composite (g-C₃N₄/CS/PVA) hydrogel beads were synthesized for the adsorptive removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from water, and they could be regenerated by light. The adsorption kinetics, isotherm, thermodynamics, and impacting factors were systematically investigated. And the adsorption capacity of the hydrogel for SMX was relatively stable at pH of 4–8, with the maximum adsorption capacities being 5.8 mg g⁻¹ at pH 5. The main adsorption force may be inferred to the electrostatic interactions between SMX and hydrogel beads, and hydrogen bonds between the amino or hydroxyl groups of the hydrogel and the amino of the SMX. The dominance of electrostatic interactions resulted in SMX adsorption being highly dependent on ionic strength. Being irradiated with an ultraviolet lamp for 5 recycles, the hydrogel beads still kept good adsorption capacity. The regeneration behavior was attributed to the photocatalytic degradation of SMX by g-C₃N₄. Namely, photocatalytic oxidation reactivated the adsorption sites and increased the release of adsorbed pollutants with improved desorption performance.