Advanced adsorbents for ibuprofen removal from aquatic environments: a review
Ahmed I. Osman, Ali Ayati, Mohamed Farghali, Pavel V. Krivoshapkin, Bahareh Tanhaei, Hassan Karimi‐Maleh, Elena F. Krivoshapkina, Parsana Taheri, Chantal Tracey, Ahmed S. Al‐Fatesh, Ikko Ihara, David W. Rooney, Mika Sillanpää
Abstract
Abstract The presence of pharmaceuticals in ecosystems is a major health issue, calling for advanced methods to clean wastewater before effluents reach rivers. Here, we review advanced adsorption methods to remove ibuprofen, with a focus on ibuprofen occurrence and toxicity, adsorbents, kinetics, and adsorption isotherms. Adsorbents include carbon- and silica-based materials, metal–organic frameworks, clays, polymers, and bioadsorbents. Carbon-based adsorbents allow the highest adsorption of ibuprofen, from 10.8 to 408 mg/g for activated carbon and 2.5–1033 mg/g for biochar. Metal–organic frameworks appear promising due to their high surface areas and tunable properties and morphology. 95% of published reports reveal that adsorption kinetics follow the pseudo-second-order model, indicating that the adsorption is predominantly governed by chemical adsorption. 70% of published reports disclose that the Langmuir model describes the adsorption isotherm, suggesting that adsorption involves monolayer adsorption.