Activated carbon from a lignocellulosic precursor (pinecone) for antibiotic removal from water

Abstract

Activated carbons have shown to be a good alternative for organic pollutants removal from water. Activated carbon is one of the oldest technologies in water treatment. A great diversity of emerging pollutants is toxic and carcinogenic; hence the importance of their removal, which is reflected in various scientific research. Ciprofloxacin (CPX) is a commonly used drug, which makes it an emerging pollutant in water. The objective of this work was to evaluate the adsorption capacity of an alternative activated carbon from pinecones (pinus eldarica) for CPX removal. For the activated carbon preparation, pinecones from the Mexican state of Chihuahua were used as precursor, which were carbonized at 800 °C in an inert atmosphere (N2) and water vapor addition to obtain the activated carbon (PAC-N2). Subsequently, the removal process was evaluated by sorption isotherms carried out in polyethylene tubereactors (Co=10 to 100 mg/L). The obtained data from the isotherm sorption process were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin models to dilucidated the sorption mechanisms. The sorption capacity of the PAC-N2 was demonstrated and the proposal of new and alternative precursors for the manufacturing of adsorbent materials to be used in the advanced water treatment process for antibiotics removal.