Biosorption of rifampicin from wastewater using cocoa shells product

Since 1970, the detection of pharmaceutical substances, in the various aquatic systems, became a global health problem. In this study, separation by the adsorption process in the presence of activated carbon cocoa shells (ACCS) as adsorbant was applied for the treatment of effluents containing antibiotic drugs (rifampicin). The influence of process variables such as the adsorption time, initial rifampicin concentration, pH, temperature, and ACCS dose on adsorption performance has been investigated. The general order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model provided the best fit to the experimental data. The negative enthalpy indicates an exothermic process that occurs via physisorption. From the experimental results, the values of isosteric heat decreased with increasing the surface coverage, indicating the presence of strong interactions.