Evaluation of Cephalexin and Amoxicillin removal from aqueous media using activated carbon produced from Aloe vera leaf waste

Abstract

The present work illustrates the applicability of carbon nanoparticles produced from aloe vera leaf waste as a cost-effective agricultural adsorbent for the removal of Amoxicillin and Cephalexin from aqueous media. The presence of these pharmaceutical compounds as antibiotics in medicine remedies leads to entering in water bodies, which raised concerns for the poisoning of aquatic organisms. The adsorptive removal evaluation of Amoxicillin and Cephalexin as pollutants from aqueous solutions was investigated by the atomic adsorption Spectrometry. In the experimental framework, the influence of several factors including, initial concentrations, pH, contact time, temperature, and adsorbent dosage were evaluated. The activity of carbon was examined by aqueous samples of H2SO4 (Av-S-Ac) and HNO3 (Av-N-Ac). Chemical modifications led to an increase in sorption ability. The empirical data were fitted first-order quasi-linear, second-order quasi-linear kinetic models, and Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Redlich-Patterson three-parameter, and Duinin-Radushkevich isotherms models. The maximum adsorption capacity was achieved at pH = 3, adsorbent dose: 100 mg and initial concentration of 50 mg/L at 25 °C. The study showed that experimental data were well-fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.99) and Langmuir isotherm model (R2 > 0.99) and the maximum uptake capacities for Cephalexin were 25.56 and 26.34 mg/g and for Amoxicillin 28.86 and 29.11 mg/g in (Av-S-Ac) and (Av-N-Ac) adsorbents, respectively.