Nano ZnCuFe2O4 decorated activated carbon derived from date palm biowaste for efficient adsorptive removal of atenolol from water and additional photocatalytic activity

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Environmental Nanotechnology Monitoring and Management

Publication Date

1-5-2026

Abstract

Access to clean and safe water remains a global challenge, particularly in arid regions such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The present study proposes an innovative approach to treat emerging sources of wastewater, like atenolol (AT) pharmaceuticals, by utilizing activated carbon (AC) produced from biomass waste of date palm leaves, an abundant agricultural waste in the UAE. The prepared AC achieved 84.5 % removal of AT; however, making its composite with nano ZnCuFe2O4 promoted the removal of AT to 97 % at 180 min under the conditions of [AT]0 = 10 mg/L, [AC]0 = [AC/ZnCuFe2O4]0 = 1.0 g/L, and pH = 7.5. The removal of AT by AC and AC/ZnCuFe2O4 best fitted the Freundlich adsorption model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed the spontaneous and exothermic nature of AT adsorption onto AC/ZnCuFe2O4. The removal efficiency of AT was promoted with increasing both adsorbent and adsorbate doses. The removal efficiency of AT was declined under the conditions of both very high and lower pH. The composite material proved to be reusable and stable, and showed greater adsorption efficiency even in the presence of counter ions. The advanced characterization techniques, like FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDX, BET, XPS, and TEM showed successful formation of AC and AC/ZnCuFe2O4 composite with porous nature and high surface properties. The adsorptive removal mechanism of AT by the prepared material was found to occur primarily through H-bonding, π-π, and n-π interactions. The prepared material also showed good photocatalytic activity and caused effective degradation of AT into different degradation products (DPs). The ecotoxicities of AT and its DPs were analyzed by ECOSAR program. The effective adsorption and photocatalytic degradation suggest significant potential of the prepared materials in treating pharmaceuticals wastewater.

ISSN

2215-1532

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Volume

25

Disciplines

Education

Keywords

Activated carbon, Atenolol, Biowaste utilization, Circular economy, Nanocomposite, Water sustainability

Scopus ID

105027140066

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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