Monolayer Adsorption of Ciprofloxacin on Magnetic Inulin/Mg–Zn–Al Layered Double Hydroxide: Advanced Interpretation of the Adsorption Process

In this study, magnetic inulin/Mg–Zn–Al layered double hydroxide (MILDH) was synthesized for the adsorption of ciprofloxacin. The application of various analytical techniques confirmed the successful formation of MILDH. For the optimization of controllable factors, Taguchi design was applied and optimum values were obtained as equilibrium time─100 min, adsorbent dose─20 mg, and ciprofloxacin concentration─30 mg/L. The highest capacity of the material was recorded as 196.19 mg/g at 298 K. Langmuir model ( R 2 = 0.9669–0.9832) fitted best as compared to the Freundlich model ( R 2 = 0.9588–0.9657), concluded the monolayer adsorption of ciprofloxacin on MILDH. Statistical physics model M 2 was found to fit best to measured data ( R 2 = 0.9982–0.9989), indicating that the binding of ciprofloxacin took place on two types of receptor sites ( n 1 and n 2 ). The multidocking mechanism with horizontal position was suggested on the first receptor site ( n 1 < 1), while multimolecular adsorption of ciprofloxacin lying vertically on the second receptor site ( n 2 > 1) at all temperatures. The adsorption energies ( E 1 = 22.79–27.20 kJ/mol; E 2 = 18.00–19.46 kJ/mol) illustrated that the adsorption of ciprofloxacin onto MILDH occurred through physical forces. Best fitting of the fractal-like pseudo-first-order kinetic model ( R 2 = 0.9982–0.9992) indicated that the adsorption of ciprofloxacin happened on the MILDH surface having different energies. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis further confirmed the adsorption mechanism of ciprofloxacin onto MILDH.