This work reports on the synthesis of aspartic acid-functionalized graphene oxide-zinc oxide, as a functional porous material, and its potential to mitigate levofloxacin (LFXN). The adsorbent was characterized by various techniques, including ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The average crystallite size of the prepared composite was about 17.30 nm. Batch adsorption studies were carried out to elucidate the adsorption process for LFXN. Different parameters, including contact time, LFXN initial concentration, adsorbent concentration, pH, temperature, and ionic strength were studied. The mechanism and kinetics were studied by fitting the data to Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, respectively. The isotherm data was better fitted to Langmuir isotherm (R2 = 0.999) as compared to the Freundlich model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained at equilibrium was 73.15 mg/g. For kinetic studies, Pseudo first order was better fitted with R2 = 0.87797, confirming the physisorption process. Thermodynamics parameters revealed that the process was exothermic and spontaneous at low temperatures. The adsorption mechanism was studied and the impregnation of LFXN in the adsorbent was confirmed by FTIR studies. This research proved that the designed GO/Asp-ZnO was a novel and promising adsorbent for the removal of LFXN with an efficiency of 95.12% at 30 mg/L LFXN by 0.6 g/L adsorbent in 24 h at pH = 7 and T = 25 °C.
Keywords: Adsorption; Antibiotics; Composite materials; Graphene oxide; Hazardous pollutants; Levofloxacin; Sustainable remediation; Zinc oxide.
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