Removal of the Water Pollutant Ciprofloxacin Using Biodegradable Sorbent Polymers Obtained from Polysaccharides Alvarado, Sarah Megía Fernández, Alicia Ortega Muñoz, Mariano Hernández Mateo, Fernando López Jaramillo, Francisco Javier Santoyo González, Francisco Cross-linking Ciprofloxacin Divinyl sulfone Emerging pollutant Biodegradable polymers Sorbent material Water management This research was funded by Junta de Andalucia through the research project B-FQM-316-UGR20 founded by the Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucia. Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www. mdpi.com/article/10.3390/polym15153188/s1 Water use has been increasing globally by 1% per year, and recycling and re-use are critical issues compromised by the presence of pollutants. In this context, the design of novel materials and/or procedures for the large scale-removal of pollutants must be economically and environmentally feasible in order to be considered as part of the solution by emerging economies. We demonstrate that the cross-linking of biodegradable polysaccharides such as starch, dextrin, or dextrin and & beta;-cyclodextrin with divinyl sulfone is an innovative strategy for synthesizing insoluble and eco-friendly sorbent polymers, including pSt, pDx and pCD-Dx. The evaluation of these polymers' ability to remove ciprofloxacin (CIP), a prime example of antibiotic pollution, revealed that pSt, with a Kd of 1469 L/kg and a removal rate higher than 92%, is a favorable material. Its sorption is pH-dependent and enhanced at a mildly alkaline pH, allowing for the desorption (i.e., cleaning) and reuse of pSt through an environmentally friendly treatment with 20 mM AcONa pH 4.6. The facts that pSt (i) shows a high affinity for CIP even at high NaCl concentrations, (ii) can be obtained from affordable starting materials, and (iii) is synthesized and regenerated through organic, solvent-free procedures make pSt a novel sustainable material for inland water and seawater remediation, especially in less developed countries, due to its simplicity and low cost. 2023-09-25T10:19:03Z 2023-09-25T10:19:03Z 2023-07-27 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Alvarado, S.; Megia-Fernandez, A.; Ortega-Muñoz, M.; Hernandez-Mateo, F.; Lopez-Jaramillo, F.J.; Santoyo-Gonzalez, F. Removal of the Water Pollutant Ciprofloxacin Using Biodegradable Sorbent Polymers Obtained from Polysaccharides. Polymers 2023, 15, 3188. [https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15153188] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84635 10.3390/polym15153188 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI