Highly Efficient Adsorption of Tetracycline Using Chitosan-Based Magnetic Adsorbent

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 14; no. 22; p. 4854
• Main Authors: da Silva Bruckmann, Franciele, Schnorr, Carlos Eduardo, da Rosa Salles, Theodoro, Nunes, Franciane Batista, Baumann, Luiza, Müller, Edson Irineu, Silva, Luis F O, Dotto, Guilherme L, Bohn Rhoden, Cristiano Rodrigo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Adsorbates; Adsorbents; Adsorption; Antibiotics; Chitosan; Drugs; Efficiency; emerging pollutants; Equilibrium; Hydrogen bonds; iron oxide nanoparticles; Iron oxides; magnetic nanocomposites; Magnetite; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Pharmaceutical industry; Pollutants; Spectrum analysis; Surface chemistry; Tetracycline; Tetracyclines; Thermodynamics; Brazil; United States > US; emerging pollutants; iron oxide nanoparticles; antibiotics; magnetic nanocomposites
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14224854

Herein, tetracycline adsorption employing magnetic chitosan (CS·Fe O ) as the adsorbent is reported. The magnetic adsorbent was synthesized by the co-precipitation method and characterized through FTIR, XRD, SEM, and VSM analyses. The experimental data showed that the highest maximum adsorption capacity was reached at pH 7.0 (211.21 mg g ). The efficiency of the magnetic adsorbent in tetracycline removal was dependent on the pH, initial concentration of adsorbate, and the adsorbent dosage. Additionally, the ionic strength showed a significant effect on the process. The equilibrium and kinetics studies demonstrate that Sips and Elovich models showed the best adjustment for experimental data, suggesting that the adsorption occurs in a heterogeneous surface and predominantly by chemical mechanisms. The experimental results suggest that tetracycline adsorption is mainly governed by the hydrogen bonds and cation-π interactions due to its pH dependence as well as the enhancement in the removal efficiency with the magnetite incorporation on the chitosan surface, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters indicate a spontaneous and exothermic process. Finally, magnetic chitosan proves to be efficient in TC removal even after several adsorption/desorption cycles.