Preparation of a graphitic ordered mesoporous carbon and its application in sorption of ciprofloxacin: Kinetics, isotherm, adsorption mechanisms studies

A graphitic ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was fabricated by a nanocasting process by using silica SBA-15 as a template and pitch resin as carbon precursor. The modification and application of the OMC for Ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal from the aqueous solution were investigated. The results exhibited that the OMC modified with different chemical agent were more efficient than the unmodified one. The CIP adsorption increased with the increase of their neutral (CIP0) or zwitterionic (CIP +/-) formed on the adsorbents because of hydrophobic effect. The adsorption amount of CIP onto the adsorbents increased with NaCl concentration. The data was analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The results indicated that adsorption of CIP onto the four adsorbents fitted better with the Langmuir model. The adsorption process follows pseudo second-order kinetic model. The results of the present study suggested that the original and modified OMC were effective sorbents for removal of antibiotics from aqueous solutions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.