Adsorption of quinolone, tetracycline, and penicillin antibiotics from aqueous solution using activated carbons: Review

Antibiotics, an important type of pharmaceutical pollutant, have attracted many researchers to the study of their removal from aqueous solutions. Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used as highly effective adsorbent for antibiotics because of its large specific surface area, high porosity, and favorable pore size distribution. In this article, the adsorption performance of AC towards three major types of antibiotics such as tetracyclines, quinolones, and penicillins were reviewed. According to collected data, maximum adsorption capacities of 1340.8, 638.6, and 570.4 mg/g were reported for tetracyclines, quinolones, and penicillins, respectively. The values of 1/n for Freundlich isotherm were less than unity, suggesting that the adsorption was nonlinear and favorable. Adsorption kinetics followed closely the pseudo-second-order model and analysis using the Weber-Morris model revealed that the intra-particle diffusion was not the only rate controlling step. AC adsorption demonstrated superior performance for all selected drugs, thus being efficient technology for treatment of these pollutants.