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Preparation And Characterization Of Chemically-Modified Biomaterials And Their Application As Adsorbents Of Penicillin G, Jesie Silva, Lizebel Morante, Tesfamichael Demeke, Jacqueline Baah-Twum, Abel E. Navarro

Publications and Research

The prevalence of antibiotics in water creates microbial resistance and has a negative impact on the ecosystem. Biomaterials such as spent tea leaves are rich in functional groups and are suitable for chemical modification for diverse applications. This research proposes the use of spent tea leaves of chamomile (CM), green tea (GT), and peppermint (PM) as structural scaffolds for the incorporation of carboxyl, sulfonyl, and thiol groups to improve the adsorption of Penicillin G (Pe). Adsorbents characterization reported a higher number of acidic functional groups, mainly in thiolated products. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed changes on the surfaces of …