Development of eco-friendly bi-polymeric adsorptive beads for the efficient removal of sulfamethoxazole from aquatic environment

Abstract

The extensive availability of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments has acquired more focus because of their ecotoxicity and non-biodegradable nature. Bipolymeric beads developed from carboxymethyl cellulose and sodium alginate were utilized in this study to adsorb the sulphonamide antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from water bodies. Beads showed irregular texture due to atmospheric drying with an active specific surface area of 5.185 m² g⁻¹. While beads subjected to manual press showed no evidence of crack or rupture, prolonged exposure to atmospheric drying lead to the formation of minute rupture as observed in SEM analysis. Experimental parameters like adsorbent dosage = 0.7 g L⁻¹, contact time = 80 to 100 min, pH = 5.7±0.1 were optimized through batch mode. The environmental sustainability of bipolymeric beads was examined with different real-time water samples. The adsorption capacity of bipolymeric beads in removing SMX, observed from the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, was 21.575 (mg g⁻¹) (L mg⁻¹)^1/n due to numerous mechanisms like hydrogen bonding, and π–π interaction. The value of 1/n (0.22) denotes that the bipolymeric bead surface is highly heterogeneous in nature, where adsorption is favourable. The current research demonstrated that bipolymeric beads are an excellent wastewater treatment material with promising industrial applications due to their easy synthesis, biodegradable properties, eco-friendly nature, stability, and remarkable engineered adsorption properties.