Kinetics and Equilibrium for Adsorption of Atenolol from Water using Moringa Oleifera and Nirmali Seeds

Abstract

Water is the principal element needed in the formation and progress of healthy life. Pharmaceutical products and their associated metabolites devoted for humans or animals, land up in the aquatic environment after use. Small concentrations of pharmaceuticals are noticed in civic wastewater, surface water, and even drinking water as per the present day research. Development of resistance by microorganisms, pharmacological effects and ecotoxicological effects are the inherent risks due to exposure to small concentrations of pharmaceutical pollutants. Out of all the methods for treatment of water, Adsorption, with biomaterials such as natural adsorbents is an economical process that is simple and easy to carry out. In the present study natural adsorbents such as Moringa Oleifera and Nirmali seeds were used to remove pharmaceuticals (Atenolol) from water. The adsorbents used in this study were characterized by FTIR. The experiments were carried out in batch system and parameters such as time of contact and adsorbent dosage were optimized. A good Atenolol removal percentage of 86% with Nirmali seed and 77% with Moringa Oleifera were obtained. Results obtained recommend that the proposed process represent noteworthy potential for degradation of pharmaceutical contaminant Atenolol.