A Very Highly Efficient Magnetic Nanomaterial for the Removal of PAHs from Aqueous Media

Two new hybrid magnetic recyclable nanomaterials are developed. These new materials are based on bisimide perylene dopamine or bisimide perylene 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and iron oxide nanoparticles. One of them, the bisimide perylene dopamine, has proven to be very efficient in the removal, by magneto filtration, of 15 carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs), especially naphthalene, acenaphthene, anthracene, phenanthrene, and fluorene. These compounds are known to be common contaminants of drinking and underground water. This nanomaterial presents a high dispersivity and stability in an aqueous media, and it is capable of forming supramolecular fluorescent magnetic nanofibers with benzo-alpha-pyrene or benzo[k]fluoranthene, BKF. This strong association is due to hydrophobic forces and the π-π interaction, between the bisimide perylene motif and the polycyclic aromatic compounds. The resilience of this material is tested in different media. No good results are obtained in ethanol, acetone, or acetonitrile, but an 85% recovery is achieved using toluene or hexane. Once washed, nanoparticles are shown to retain their ability to continue capturing PAHs.