May 2024
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27 Reads
Materials Circular Economy
Endocrine disruptor (ED) present in wastewater poses severe environmental hazards by interfering with aquatic organisms’ endocrine systems, adversely affecting reproduction, development, and overall ecosystem health. Cephalexin (CEX) is one of the most frequently prescribed ED antibiotics due to its broad spectrum of antibacterial activity and excellent water solubility. This study removed CEX from wastewater using activated carbon from cornstalks (ACCS), an agri-byproduct abundantly found in many farmlands. The uniqueness of this research lies in its investigation of the potential of ACCS as a sustainable and effective solution for treating water contaminated with CEX. It distinctively focuses on using a readily available and renewable agri-biomass source, cornstalks, to produce activated carbon, which could offer an eco-friendly and economically viable method for water purification. The cornstalks were modified using H3PO4 at 1 mol/L concentration and carbonized at 600 °C in a muffle furnace to obtain ACCS. The ACCS was employed to eliminate CEX from water, and its effectiveness was evaluated. Based on the results, the optimum conditions to remove CEX using ACCS were an initial concentration of 600 ppm, an adsorbent dose of 1.08 g, and a contact period of 46 min, leading to an optimal CEX removal efficiency of 92.7 ± 0.32% and an adsorption capacity of 19.31 mg/g. The Freundlich isotherm model showed a strong correlation (R² of 0.9893), which explained that adsorption happens in multiple layers and is not uniform. Strong chemical bonds between the CEX and the ACCS surface during chemisorption impact the adsorption process, according to the pseudo-second-order model, which had a high goodness-of-fit (R² of 0.9515). It turned out to be a practical choice for antibiotic treatment because of its high removal efficiency and was a cost-effective way to remove CEX from polluted water, which had significant effects on raising water quality standards.