Efficient removal of antibiotic from aqueous solutions using adsorbent derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework-8

Abstract

The effective removal of common refractory antibiotics from livestock and poultry farming wastewater has attracted widespread attention. Developing high-performance adsorbents for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater is a highly promising method. Herein, a derivative from zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (D-ZIF-8) was successfully prepared, characterized, and used for the adsorption of sulfamethoxazole (SMZ). Results showed that the D-ZIF-8 was a superior mesoporous adsorbent for antibiotic removal from wastewater, with a large specific surface area, pore size, and pore volume. Under suitable adsorption conditions, such as pH of 5.5, temperature of 25 ℃, initial concentration of SMZ of 10 mg/L, and D-ZIF-8 dosage of 0.1 g/L, the adsorption of SMZ on D-ZIF-8 could reach equilibrium at 5 h, and the removal efficiency and adsorption capacity of SMZ reached to 95.0% and 95.0 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, the D-ZIF-8 adsorbent also had good reusability. After 4 cycles, the adsorption capacity of SMZ on D-ZIF-8 remained at 93% of the initial adsorption capacity. In addition, the results of kinetic, adsorption isotherm, and thermodynamic analysis indicated that the adsorption of SMZ on D-ZIF-8 belonged to multi-layer chemical adsorption and was a spontaneous exothermic reaction. This investigation could provide an efficient method for the removal of refractory antibiotics from livestock and poultry farm wastewater.