Adsorption of Emerging Pollutant by Pecan Shell-Based Biosorbent

Abstract

The insertion of antibiotics in water resources results from anthropogenic sources; however, at residual concentrations, they characterize potential risks to the ecosystem, such as the emergence of multi-resistant bacteria. It is necessary to develop technologies to provide sustainable solutions for low- and middle-income countries. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the ability to remove the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CPX) with a biosorbent produced with pecan shells (PSB). The PSB structure was determined by scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopy in the infrared region by Fourier Transform. For adsorption assays, solutions of 10 mg L−1 of CPX were used. The results show that the process reaches equilibrium at 240 min, and follows the pseudo-second order model kinetic and the Freundlich equilibrium model. The increase in temperature and the pH variation of the solution strongly influence the process. In general, the adsorption of CPX using PS is a potential method for treating water and contaminated effluents, as well as being a low-cost method; this is because it uses a byproduct from the agricultural industry that results in a reduction of approximately 60% of the antibiotic load contained in the liquid effluent.