Preparation of Hypercrosslinked Polymer-Based Sponge and its Application for the Removal of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Water Samples

The residues of pharmaceutical compounds such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in aquatic environments are a matter of global concern because they may pose deleterious risks to human health and ecosystems. In this study, a novel composite was prepared by grafting ionic liquid hypercrosslinked polymer onto the surface of the melamine sponge skeleton. The resultant hypercrosslinked polymer@sponge was characterized using SEM, BET, FT-IR, TG-DSC, XPS, and a zeta potential analyzer. The composite can provide strong ion exchange sites and multiple interactions, which had a strong interaction with the target NSAIDs. The adsorption conditions, including pH, extraction time, salt concentration, and initial concentration of the drugs, were systematically optimized to obtain the maximum removal efficiency. Studies revealed that the prepared IL-HCPs@MS had a strong affinity for NSAIDs, particularly for diclofenac and ketoprofen. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics data of both these IL-HCPs@MS were in alignment with the Langmuir model (R 2 > 0.98) and the pseudo-second-order model (R 2 > 0.99), respectively. The results showed the removal of NSAIDs by the HCPs@MS was mainly based on the chemisorption process, monolayer adsorption with an endothermic mechanism, and an enthalpy-driven process. The composite will be a promising sorbent with potential applications in water environment remediation.