HKUST-1-Derived Cu@Cu(I)@Cu(II)/Carbon adsorbents for ciprofloxacin removal with high adsorption performance

• Cu@Cu 2 O/Carbon adsorbents were synthesized by pyrolysis of HKUST-1; • HDC-1100 has a very high adsorption capacity for ciprofloxacin; • Adsorption of CIP on HDC-1100 reaches maximum adsorption capacity within 48 h; • Effect of environmental factors was also studied; • Adsorption mechanism is metal–organic complexation and electrostatic interaction; Considering the increasingly serious levels of antibiotic pollution, it is necessary to find new and efficient adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive removal of a model quinolone antibiotic, ciprofloxacin (CIP), from wastewater is presented using a metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon. HKUST-1-derived carbon (HDC-1100) was obtained by high-temperature carbonization of the HKUST-1 precursor at 1100 °C. HDC-1100 has a regular octahedron shape decorated with Cu/Cu 2 O particles and has a microporous and mesoporous structure with abundant oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface. Within 48 h, HDC-1100 could reach adsorption equilibrium for 30 mg·L -1 CIP, and the kinetic data were fitted with a pseudo-first-order model and a pseudo-second-order model. In this study, the maximum adsorption capacity of HDC-1100 for CIP was as high as 592 mg·g −1 . The high adsorption capacity is attributed mainly to metal–organic complexation, electrostatic interactions, and hydrogen bonding. Also, the effects of environmental factors, such as pH, ionic strength, and humic acid, on the adsorption capacity were considered. This study is significant for the treatment of high-concentration antibiotic-polluted wastewater.