The box-Behnken experimental approach of emerging contaminant-Ciprofloxacin antibiotic removal from aqueous solution using Kigelia Africana peel-activated carbon: optimization, kinetics, and isotherm studies

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined the use of Kigelia Africana peel-activated carbon (KAP-AC) to remove ciprofloxacin (CIP) from aqueous solutions. To investigate the adsorption capacity, isotherm, and kinetic parameters of the adsorption process, batch adsorption experiments were conducted to test the effects of adsorbent dosage, time, pH, initial concentration of CIP, and temperature. The binding mechanism among KAP-AC and CIP was investigated using FTIR, XRD, and SEM. Models of the Langmuir adsorption isotherm (LAI), Freundlich adsorption isotherm (FAI), and Temkin adsorption isotherm (TAI) helped to clarify the adsorption process. Adsorption experiments were carried out to explain kinetic studies, such as the pseudo-first-order kinetic model (PFO-KM), pseudo-second-order kinetic model (PSO-KM), and intraparticle diffusion kinetic model (IPD-KM). The experimental results may be more accurately described by the FAI and PFO-KM. Additionally, response surface methodology (RSM), which is based on Box–Behnken (BB) surface statistical design, was used to investigate the impact of variables on the adsorption of CIP. Higher coefficients of correlation and p-value values, by BB design, were in excellent adaption with the ideal combination of process variables, indicating the suitability of the selected model for assessing the experimental data.