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A hydrogel formulation of 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (HEMA) containing covalently linked magnetite nanoparticles was developed to actively facilitate the selective removal and photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics. To this purpose, the hybrid materials were molecularly imprinted with Lomefloxacin (Lome) or Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), achieving a selectivity of 60% and 45%, respectively, starting from a solution of XX concentration. After the adsorption, the embedded magnetite was used with the double function of (i) magnetically removing the material from water and (ii) triggering photo-Fenton (PF) reactions assisted by UVA light and H 2 O 2 to oxidize the captured antibiotic. The success of the material design was confirmed by a comprehensive characterization of the system from chemical-physical and morphological perspectives. Adsorption and degradation tests demonstrated the material's ability to efficiently degrade Lome until its complete disappearance from the electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectra. Regeneration tests showed the possibility of reusing the material for up to three cycles. Ecotoxicological tests using algae Rapidocelis subcapitata , crustaceans Daphnia magna , and bacteria Vibrio fischeri were performed to evaluate the ecosafety of our synthesized materials.

An improvement of water supply and sanitation and better management of water resources, especially in terms of water reuse, is one of the priorities of the European Green Deal. In this context, it is crucial to find new strategies to recycle wastewater efficiently in a low-cost and eco-friendly manner. The immobilization of inorganic nanomaterials on polymeric matrices has been drawing a lot of attention in recent years due to the extraordinary properties characterizing the as-obtained nanocomposites. The hybrid materials, indeed, combine the properties of the polymers, such as flexibility, low cost, mechanical stability, high durability, and ease of availability, with the properties of the inorganic counterpart. In particular, if the inorganic fillers are nanostructured photocatalysts, the materials will be able to utilize the energy delivered by light to catalyze chemical reactions for efficient wastewater treatment. Additionally, with the anchoring of the nanomaterials to the polymers, the dispersion of the nanomaterials in the environment is prevented, thus overcoming one of the main limits that impede the application of nanostructured photocatalysts on a large scale. In this work, we will present nanocomposites made of polymers, i.e., polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and photocatalytic semiconductors, i.e., TiO 2 nanoparticles (Evonik). MoS 2 nanoflakes were also added as co-catalysts to improve the photocatalytic performance of the TiO 2 . The hybrid materials were prepared using the sonication and solution casting method. The nanocomposites were deeply characterized, and their remarkable photocatalytic abilities were evaluated by the degradation of two common water pollutants: methyl orange and diclofenac. The relevance of the obtained results will be discussed, opening the route for the application of these materials in photocatalysis and especially for novel wastewater remediation.

In this paper, we propose a rational design of a hybrid nanosystem capable of locally delivering a high amount of hydrophobic anticancer drugs (sorafenib or lenvatinib) and heat (hyperthermia) in a remote-controlled manner. We combined in a unique nanosystem the excellent NIR photothermal conversion of gold nanorods (AuNRs) with the ability of a specially designed galactosylated amphiphilic graft copolymer (PHEA-g-BIB-pButMA-g-PEG-GAL) able to recognize hepatic cells overexpressing the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) on their membranes, thus giving rise to a smart composite nanosystem for the NIR-triggered chemo-phototherapy of hepatocarcinoma. In order to allow the internalization of AuNRs in the hydrophobic core of polymeric nanoparticles, AuNRs were coated with a thiolated fatty acid (12-mercaptododecanoic acid). The drug-loaded hybrid nanoparticles were prepared by the nanoprecipitation method, obtaining nanoparticles of about 200 nm and drug loadings of 9.0 and 5.4% w / w for sorafenib and lenvatinib, respectively. These multifunctional nanosystems have shown to convert NIR radiation into heat and release charged drugs in a remote-controlled manner. Then, the biocompatibility and synergistic effects of a chemo-phototherapy combination, as well the receptor-mediated internalization, were evaluated by an in vitro test on HepG2, HuH7, and NHDF. The results indicate that the proposed nanoparticles can be considered to be virtuous candidates for an efficient and selective dual-mode therapy of hepatocarcinoma.