Preparation of GO/Ni/Y-MOFs via Microwave-Assisted Ball Milling and the Removal of Tetracycline Hydrochloride From Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

In this research, GO/Ni/Y-MOFs were successfully prepared using a microwave-assisted ball milling (MABM) technique. 1,3,5-Benzenetricarboxylic acid was utilized as the organic linker, while nickel(II) acetate tetrahydrate and yttrium(III) acetate hydrate acted as the metal sources. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized materials were examined using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements. These materials were subsequently employed to evaluate their efficiency in removing tetracycline hydrochloride from solution. Experimental findings revealed that adding 200 mg of GO/Ni/Y-MOFs to a solution with an initial concentration of 50 mg/L tetracycline hydrochloride resulted in a remarkable removal efficiency of 87.3% within 2 h. To better understand the kinetic behavior of this process, both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were investigated. It was observed that the experimental data correlated more closely with the pseudo-second-order model predictions. Furthermore, Langmuir, and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to analyze the adsorption characteristics under isothermal conditions. Notably, the experimental results showed a better fit with the Freundlich isotherm compared with the Langmuir isotherm. Based on these experiments, it was concluded that GO/Ni/Y-MOFs exhibit a maximum adsorption capacity for tetracycline hydrochloride at pH 8, reaching up to 375.8 mg/g within 5 h. Overall, our results demonstrate that GO/Ni/Y-MOFs are highly effective for the removal of tetracycline hydrochloride, both theoretically and experimentally.