Selective adsorption of emerging contaminants from aqueous solution using Cu-based composite by solvothermal

Pharmaceuticals compounds have been designated as emerging contaminants in recent years due to their constant presence and persistence in the aquatic ecosystem, even at low doses. This study aims to synthesize Fe3O4 core–shell magnetic nanoparticles and covered them with Cu-BTC (BTC) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate. Copper-based composite Cu-BTC@Fe3O4 was used to study the adsorption capacity of four pharmaceutical drugs, viz. diclofenac sodium, ibuprofen, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin. The factors that influence the adsorption such as pH, concentration, adsorbent amount, and time were investigated. Results exposed that percent removal of four drugs in an aqueous media increased by up to 81% within 3 h of contact time. The adsorption mechanism was found to fit the pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models. The adsorption isotherm data were well expressed by the Langmuir equation. Results indicated that maximum adsorption capacity was found qmax = 13.38 mg.g−1 for ibuprofen, qmax = 12.47 mg.g−1 for diclofenac, qmax = 12.35 mg.g−1 for ciprofloxacin, qmax = 11.14 mg.g−1 for ofloxacin, respectively.