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Background
and Objectives: Antibiotics are
potential pollutants that represent an important environmental problem because
of their toxic effects on the food chain and aqueous streams. The objective of
this research was to study the adsorption of penicillin G on to chestnut shell
as an inexpensive adsorbent.
Materials and Methods: This study was performed at laboratory scale
and batch system. We studied the influence of process variables such as
adsorbent dose, initial PEN G concentration, pH of solution, contact time, and
breakthrough curves. In order to find out the possibility of reuse, desorption
study was also carried out. The surface characteristics of adsorbent were
investigated using Fourier Transform Infra-Red and Scanning electron
microscope. Equilibrium study data were modeled using Langmuir, Freundlich, and
D-R models. Moreover, kinetic studies
were done by three models of pseudo first order, pseudo second order, and
intra-particle diffusion.
Resuls: The maximum
PEN G removal achieved was 92%, at pH 3, adsorbent dose 0.1 g/l and contact
time 120 min. The Langmuir equation (R
2=0.99) provided the best fit
for the experimental data. It was also found that adsorption of PEN G by
chestnut shell followed pseudo- second order model (R
2= 0.992).
Conclusion: According to the results obtained, chestnut
shell appears to be a suitable, low cost and efficient adsorbent for removing
PEN G from waste streams.