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. 2024 Aug 24;14(1):19687.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-69989-x.

Removal of oxytetracycline from pharmaceutical wastewater using kappa carrageenan hydrogel

Muhammad Afzaal  1 , Rab Nawaz  2   3 , Saddam Hussain  4 , Mahnoor Nadeem  4 , Muhammad Atif Irshad  2 , Ali Irfan  5 , Hafiz Abdul Mannan  6 , Aamal A Al-Mutairi  7 , Atif Islam  6   8 , Sami A Al-Hussain  7 , Mehwish Rubab  9 , Magdi E A Zaki  10
Affiliations

Removal of oxytetracycline from pharmaceutical wastewater using kappa carrageenan hydrogel

Muhammad Afzaal et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This study investigated the adsorption of Oxytetracycline (OTC) from pharmaceutical wastewater using a kappa carrageenan based hydrogel (KPB). The aim of the present study was to explore the potential of KPB for long-term pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. A sustainable adsorbent was developed to address oxytetracycline (OTC) contamination. The hydrogel's structural and adsorption characteristics were examined using various techniques like Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and kinetic models. The results revealed considerable changes in the vibrational modes and adsorption bands of the hydrogel, suggesting the effective functionalization of Bentonite nano-clay. Kappa carrageenan based hydrogel achieved the maximum removal (98.5%) of OTC at concerntration of 40 mg/L, pH 8, cotact time of 140 min and adsorbent dose of 0.1 g (KPB-3). Adsorption of OTC increased up to 99% with increasing initial concentrations. The study achieved 95% adsorption capacity for OTC using a KPB film at a concentration of 20 mg/L and a 0.1 g adsorbent dose within 60 min. It also revealed that chemisorptions processes outperform physical adsorption. The Pseudo-Second-Order model, which emphasized the importance of chemical adsorption in the removal process, is better suited to represent the adsorption behavior. Excellent matches were found that R2 = 0.99 for KPB-3, R2 = 0.984 for KPB-2 and R2 = 0.989 for KPB-1 indicated strong chemical bonding interactions. Statisctical analysis (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS (version 25) and it was found that pH and concentration had significant influence on OTC adsorption by the hydrogel, with p-values less than 0.05. The study identified that a Kappa carrageenan-based hydrogel with bentonite nano-clay and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) can efficiently remove OTC from pharmaceutical effluent, with a p-value of 0.054, but weak positive linear associations with pH, temperature, and contact time. This research contributed to sustainable wastewater treatment and environmental engineering.

Keywords: Bentonite nano-clay; Hydrogel; Kappa Carrageenan; Oxytetracycline; Pharmaceutical wastewater.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
FTIR of Functionalization of Bentonite Nano clay.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FTIR analysis of hydrogel at magnifications (a) KPB-1 (b) KPB-2 (c) KPB-3 (d) KPB-4 (e) KPB-5 (f) KPB-6.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM images of hydrogel at magnifications ((a) X 1/4 3000 for KPB-1 (b) X 1/4 15,000), for KPB-2 (0.05) at magnifications ((c) X 1/4 3000 for KPB-3 (0.1) (d) X 1/4 15,000) for KPB-4 (0.15) at magnifications ((e) X 1/4 3000 for KPB-5(0.2) (f) X 1/4 15,000) for KPB-6.
Figure 4
Figure 4
X-Rays Diffraction of hydrogel (a) KPB-1 (b) KPB-2 (c) KPB-3 (d) KPB-4 (e) KPB-5 (f) KPB-6.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparative analysis of swelling ratio of K-carrageenan hydrogel after equal interval of time.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Variation in pH at various concentration of K-carrageenan hydrogel.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effect of pH on adsorption capacity of OTC.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Variation in adsorption capacity at different concentration of Kappa carrageenan/Polyvinyl alcohol/Bentonite Nano clay Hydrogel.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Overall % removal of OTC from pharmaceutical wastewater by Kappa carrageenan/ Polyvinyl alcohol/ Bentonite Nano clay Hydrogel.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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