Efficiency Evaluation of Activated Carbon Making from Sycamore Wood and Treated with Ammonium Chloride in the Removal of Amoxicillin from Aqueous Solutions

Antibiotics are a group of synthetic organic materials that are not removable by biological treatment process and need to be treated by advanced process like surface absorption. Since activated carbon is one of the best choices for using as adsorbent, this project was aimed on the removal of amoxicillin antibiotic from aquatics solutions by a novel modified activated carbon.
The present study was an experimental study which was conducted by using batch wise method. Erlenmeyers with 100 mL volume containing 50 mL of amoxicillin with a known concentration and amount of adsorbent were shacked at different pHs, contact times and temperatures. The samples were filtered by vacuumed pump using 0.04 acetate cellulous filter and the residual of amoxicillin was determined by UV spectrophotometer at 228 nm using quarts cell.
The results obtained from experimental data was shown that the best efficiency of amoxicillin removal from aquatic solution by the new activated carbon takes places at pH= 6, adsorbent dose of 0.06 g/L and 20 min contact time. In this project the used activated carbon efficiency was 75.5%, in antibiotic concentration of 50 mg/L. Isotherm studies were shown that the amoxicillin absorption can be explained by both Langmuir and Freundlich models, and the degree of reaction obtained from kinetic studies was of second order.
With regard to acceptable worth capacity of the new activated carbon, it was suitable to replace standard Merck carbon for water and wastewater treatment.