The contamination of aquatic bodies from oil or petroleum
spills
is increasingly common throughout the world. In this context, our
very current and relevant approach was based on the preparation of
magnetic mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) from the incorporation of magnetic
nanomaterials to act in crude oil remediation systems. The MMMs were
prepared via the casting method using magnetic nanomaterials as filler
materials. They were applied to water static sorption, transport tests,
permeation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), and crude oil
remediation. The MMMs exhibited a homogeneous aspect with a good dispersion
and excellent compatibility between the magnetic nanomaterials and
the polymeric matrices as well as a good elemental distribution in
the MMMs. Furthermore, it was possible to observe a decrease in the
glass transition temperature (T
g) for
the poly(sulfone)-based (PSf) MMMs with cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4), and the same behavior was seen for the poly(sulfone)
acrylate-based (PSf-Ac) MMM with 1.0 wt % of MCM-48-CoFe2O4–NH2 (Mobil Composition Matter of
number 48). The PAH permeation tests showed that a permeation equilibrium
was obtained in 24 h. The permeation, retention, and removal rates
varied between: (i) 2.22–5.40%, 94.60–97.78%, and 13.91–86.53%
for the PSf-based membranes and (ii) 2.23–5.44%, 94.56–97.77%,
and 1.67–95.73% for the PSf-Ac-based MMMs. Finally, the results
of oil remediation exhibited excellent removal values for light and
heavy oil in fresh water and seawater, whose removal efficiency was
between 94.08 and 99.99%. Therefore, we are optimistic about the possibility
of proposing the real use of a multifunctional membrane to act in
the efficient removal of organic pollutants from wastewater as well
as in the magnetic removal of petroleum in aquatic bodies.