Synthesis and characterization of new generation of sorbent materials and their application in the elimination of diclofenac: Numerical analysis using Comsol software

Abstract

This paper reports the preparation of a new class of eco- friendly sorbents as well as the study of the continuous dynamic sorption of diclofenac (DF) chosen as a model representative of pharmaceutical pollutants. Biomass based on palm waste was used as base material in the presence of 27% commercial polymer carbopol as granular support, 10% tween 80 as surfactant and NaOH in the preparation of hydrophobic and organophilic effective sorbent grains. Multiple experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of initial diclofenac concentration (20–50 mg/L), flow rate (1.11–1.82 L/h), and column height (10–15 cm) on the breakthrough curve. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 137 mg/g under a flow rate of 1.11 L/h, column height 15 cm and inlet concentration of diclofenac of 20 mg/L. The experimental data obtained data were fitted using the empirical models of Thomas, Yoon - Nelson and Adam-Bohart. The reusability assessment demonstrated the potential for reusing this active biomass for a minimum of three adsorption –desorption cycles. The breakthrough curves indicated a positive correlation between breakthrough time and column height, while initial diclofenac concentration and flow rate exhibited negative correlations. The utilization of the Thomas model effectively described the sorption process, supported by a highly satisfactory correlation coefficient (R² > 0.98). However, a marginal decrease in the sorption capacity of diclofenac was observed with the number of sorption-desorption cycles, with reductions of 24%, 10%, and 5%, respectively.