Insights into the adsorption behaviour and mechanism of tetracycline on rectorite mineral: Influence of surface and structure evolution

The abuse of tetracycline has caused serious water pollution, so it is very important to explore the advanced removal technology of tetracycline from wastewater. Herein，a simple thermal treatment method leads to the modification of the surface and structure of rectorite to achieve the activation of rectorite (Rec 600 ) and successfully constructs multiple adsorption sites. The experimental results showed that Rec 600 exhibited good adsorption performance for tetracycline (143.25 mg·g −1 ), and the pseudo-second-order model and Freundlich model could better describe the kinetic and adsorption data. Rec 600 has a good adsorption ability in a wide pH range, and the removal rate of tetracycline decreased only 38.5% after 5 adsorption cycles. Rec 600 deploys good adsorption capacity, which can be attributed to the synergy of hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction and cation exchange. Rec 600 has the characteristics of high adsorption capacity, good reusability, low price and easy preparation, and has broad application prospects in the removal of tetracycline in polluted water. • A novel rectorite adsorbent was prepared by a simple thermal activation method. • Evaluation of rectorite surface and structure for tetracycline (TC) adsorption • Rec 600 showed efficient adsorption performance for a cationic pollutant (TC). • The mechanisms of TC adsorption by modified rectorite have been proposed.