Abstract
A green synthesis approach was conducted to prepare amine-functionalized bio-graphene (AFBG) as an efficient and low cost adsorbent that can be obtained from agricultural wastes. In this study, bio-graphene was successfully used to remove Ciprofloxacin (CIP) from synthetic solutions. The efficacy of adsorbent as a function of operating variables (i.e. pH, time, AFBG dose and CIP concentration) was described by a polynomial model. A optimal99.3% experimental removal was achieved by adjusting the mixing time, AFBG dose, pH and CIP concentration to 58.16, 0.99, 7.47, and 52.9, respectively. Kinetic model revealed that CIP diffusion into the internal layers of AFBG controls the rate of the process. Furthermore, the sorption process was in monolayer with a maximum monolayer capacity of 172.6 mg/g. Adsorption also found to be favored under higher CIP concentrations. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°<0, ΔH°>0, and ΔS°>0) demonstrated that the process is endothermic and spontaneous in nature. The regeneration study showed that the AFBG could simply regenerated without significant lost in adsorption capacity.