Sulfide-Doped Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes Developed as Adsorbent for Uptake of Tetracycline and Cefixime from Wastewater

Abstract

In this study, a magnetic solid-phase extraction method was developed based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes decorated by magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (Fe3O4@MWCNT-CdS) for trace extraction of cefixime and tetracycline antibiotics from urine and drug company wastewater. The adsorbent features were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Various effective parameters on the sorption and desorption cycle, such as sorption time, the mass of adsorbent, pH, salt addition, and material ratio, were investigated and optimized. The data were evaluated using isotherm models, and experimental data were well-fitted to both Langmuir (R2 = 0.975) and Freundlich (R2 = 0.985) models. Moreover, kinetic of reaction was agreement with pseudo-second-order (R2 = 0.999) as compared pseudo-first-order (R2 = 0.760). The maximum adsorption capacity for tetracycline and cefixime was achieved at 116.27 and 105.26 mg·g−1, respectively. Hence, the prepared adsorbent can be used as an alternative material for enhanced determination of pharmaceutical substances in biological fluids.