Ketoprofen and benzophenone adsorption on manganese ferrite biochar magnetic nanocomposite from aqueous solution

Emerging pollutants (EPs) are unchecked pollutants with inherent negative potentials present in the environment. There are heightened concerns about the availability and fate of these pollutants in the ecosystem because they cannot be removed by conventional wastewater treatment methods. Adsorption, a facile and scalable technique, is a method which can be used for the removal of emerging contaminants. Ketoprofen and benzophenone were used as representative EPs to investigate their sorption from aqueous solutions. Manganese ferrite biochar (MnFe2O4@BC) prepared via co-precipitation route was used as adsorbent. The MnFe2O4/biochar magnetic nanocomposite was octagonally shaped with an average particle size of 42.64 nm. The specific surface area (SBET) analysis revealed that the nanocomposite was mesoporous with a surface area of 197.64 m2/g. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qo) of ketoprofen and benzophenone was 8.09 and 7.02 mg/g at 20 °C. Thermodynamic investigation revealed that the uptake of ketoprofen was spontaneous while adsorption studies revealed that Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm fitted the adsorption data of ketoprofen and benzophenone. The positive heat of reaction shows that the adsorption process was endothermic. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) data suggests that the uptake of adsorbates was by physisorption. The used nanocomposite could easily be recovered with water and reused while recyclability studies indicate the magnetic nanocomposites adsorbent could be reused up to five consecutive cycles.