Insights on carbonaceous materials tailoring for effective removal of the Anticancer Drug 5-Fluorouracil from contaminated waters

Abstract

This work presents for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the influence of the textural and elemental properties of different carbonaceous materials on the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) removal efficacy from water by adsorption. A detailed textural and elemental characterization of the adsorbent materials was performed, based on which their kinetics and equilibrium adsorption performances for 5-FU uptake were compared. The equilibrium data revealed that the adsorption capacities are generally in line with the surface area of the carbonaceous materials; the carbon blacks, BP2000 and Vulcan, exhibit the highest (112 mg/g) and lowest (19 mg/g) adsorption capacities, respectively. The linear driving force model was successfully used to describe the rate of 5-FU adsorption on the carbonaceous materials and the effect of some parameters (agitation speed, adsorbent particle size, and initial 5-FU concentration) on the sorption kinetics was evaluated. It was found that the oxygen content and the mesopore volume are the most relevant properties of the adsorbent affecting the kinetics.