ADSORPTION OF CIPROFLOXACIN FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION ONTO FE3O4/GRAPHENE OXIDE NANOCOMPOSITE

In this research, ciprofloxacin adsorption (CIP) onto graphene oxide synthesized with Fe₃O₄ (Fe₃O₄-GO) was applied via various adsorbent dose, contact time, temperature and initial CIP concentration. The results showed that the percentage removal of CIP decreases from 98.1 to %77.4, as the CIP concentration increases from 25 to 200 mg/L. Also, the amount of CIP adsorbed per unit mass of adsorbent increased from 49.25 to 309.6 mg/g with increasing in CIP concentration from 25 to 200 mg/L. The results showed that the adsorption was accurately represented by the pseudo-second-order model. Under different temperature, the CIP maximum adsorption on Fe₃O₄-GO calculated by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and were 197 mg/g (273 K), 191.6 mg/g (288 K), 182.2 mg/g (303 K) and 172.6 mg/g (318 K). Also, the results showed the existence of three steps during the adsorption process. The first stage was the transport of CIP molecule from the adsorbents external surface to the pores of the adsorbent internal structure. The second stage is the transport of CIP molecule from the adsorbent external surface to the pores of the adsorbent internal structure. The third stage is the adsorption of CIP molecule on the interior surface of the adsorbent. The results suggest that Fe₃O₄-GO could be employed as an effective material for the removal of CIP from aqueous solutions.