Development of an Adsorption Process for the Removal of Pharmaceuticals from Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents by Means of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers and Commercial Adsorbents

Pharmaceuticals are micropollutants that represent a worldwide threat as they are continuously detected in the aquatic environment. Wastewater treatment plant effluents are one of the major sources of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments, as conventional wastewater treatment is not able to efficiently remove them. Among the most concerning pharmaceuticals, diclofenac and carbamazepine are widely detected in waters; for this reason, they were chosen as target compounds for this work. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers were designed and prepared for selective removal of diclofenac and carbamazepine and their adsorption performances from real effluents were compared with those of commercial materials, such as activated carbon Norit and Amberlite XAD16N. Some Molecularly Imprinted Polymers showed promising adsorption performances in batch adsorption tests in comparison with tested commercial materials. The real effectiveness of best MIPs will be further tested in a packed bed column to develop a cost-effective adsorption/desorption process.