A review on ciprofloxacin removal from wastewater as a pharmaceutical contaminant: Covering adsorption to advanced oxidation processes to computational studies

Antibiotics released into water sources can harm human health and the environment. This review discusses the ecotoxicological impacts of ciprofloxacin (CIP) on the environment. Within this context, we have examined various sustainable remediation technologies, including advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), electrochemical processes, membrane separation, and adsorption using different classes of adsorbents such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers, biochar, biosorbents, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and nanocomposites. The review includes details on equilibrium isotherm and kinetic models, computational modeling, prospects, and challenges. The results have shown that carbon-based adsorbents, such as magnetic N-doped nanoporous carbon, exhibit higher qmax (1563.7 mg/g) than other adsorbents. Meanwhile, the Langmuir-Freundlich and pseudo-second-order (PSO) models are the most suitable for describing the isotherm and kinetics of the CIP adsorption processes, respectively. This review aims to provide comprehensive insights for readers, enabling them to identify research gaps and develop innovative treatment methods for CIP-contaminated waters.