Adsorptive Removal of a Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product “Ibuprofen” from Water with “Metal-Organic Frameworks”

Abstract

The adsorptive removal of ibuprofen, one of the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPS), from aqueous solutions was studied by using the highly porous metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-101 and a modified MIL-101 called MIL-101-OH. Adsorption results showed that MIL-101-OH which contains H-donor modified/functional group such as –OH, which was very effective for ibuprofen adsorption. On the contrary, the performance of MIL-101 was poor compare to the adsorption result of MIL-101-OH. The adsorbent with the highest adsorption capacity, MIL-101-OH, was very competitive when compared with pristine MIL-101. The effect of pH on the adsorption of ibuprofen also supports this interaction. Moreover, the MIL-101-OH could be recycled several times by simply washing with ethanol and reusable up to at least the third run with little change in the performance along with a high adsorption capacity and repaid adsorption.