Abstract
Cladophora and Spirulina algae biomass have been used for the removal of Tetracycline (TC) antibiotic from aqueous solution. Different operation conditions were varied in batch process, such as initial antibiotic concentration, different biomass dosage and type, contact time, agitation speed, and initial pH. The result showed that the maximum removal efficiencies by using 1.25 g/100 ml Cladophora and 0.5 g/100 ml Spirulina algae biomass were 95% and 94% respectively. At the optimum experimental condition of temperature 25°C, initial TC concentration 50 mg/l, contact time 2.5hr, agitation speed 200 rpm and pH 6.5. The characterization of Cladophora and Spirulina biomass by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) indicates that the presence of functional groups of different components such as the Hydroxyl group (-OH), amides(N-H stretch) were responsible of surface adsorption processes. The isothermal study has been applied using Freundlich, Temkin, and Langmuir models. The data best fitted with the Langmuir model. Finally, The pseudo-second-order kinetic model was best fitted the kinetic data with a high coefficient of determination (R2< 0.97 and 0.99) when used Cladophora and Spirulina algae biomass, respectively. The study showed that both Cladophora and Spirulina algae were promising and economical biomass that could be used for a large scale bioreactor.
Highlights
Pharmaceutical compounds are considered emerging environmental pollutants that have a potentially harmful effect on the environment and human health
The ability of algae biomass to remove tetracycline from the water will be studied under different operation conditions using a batch system
Batch experiments relevant that efficient pHi value lies between (4 and 5), the required equilibrium time was attained within 60 minute for all algae type and forms, the data result fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model and conducted well with the Langmuir isotherm with R2 more than 0.99
Summary
Pharmaceutical compounds are considered emerging environmental pollutants that have a potentially harmful effect on the environment and human health. Of particular concern are antibiotic residues in the environment, which can induce antibioticresistant genes (ARGs) from extended exposure at relatively low concentrations [9] In these conditions, the environment encourages bacteria to evolve ways to protect themselves, causing ‘’Superbugs" is a term used to describe strains of bacteria that are resistant to the majority of antibiotics commonly used today. Traditional techniques for the removal of antibiotic from wastewater include evaporation, chemical precipitation, ion exchange, ozone treatment, photochemical oxidation, cation exchange membranes, ultrafiltration, nano-filtration, electro-chemical degradation, reverse osmosis, coagulation, membrane separation, and catalytic oxidation. These processes may be ineffective for large scale subtraction of antibiotic[22]. The pH value of the solutions was controlled during the experiments by addition of the buffer solution dropwise
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