| dc.description.abstract | Ciprofloxacin is one of the major pharmaceutical pollutants being fed into waterbodies around the world. It is consumed by humans and animals, passed into the environment mainly through hospital waste. Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic could be very harmful for environmental, disturbing the natural balance and can further increase the problem of antibiotic resistance. This thesis aims to study biochar as an adsorbent to remove ciprofloxacin from wastewater. Nine samples of biochar from wood and sludge pyrolyzed at different temperatures were characterized using XRD, FTIR, TGA and BET using Nitrogen and Carbon dioxide. Finally, batch equilibrium method was performed to investigate the sorption of ciprofloxacin on biochar. The results showed overall promising protentional of biochar for sorption of Ciprofloxacin. Wood biochar pyrolyzed at higher temperature exhibited larger specific area and more micropore volume as compared to sludge samples of same temperature, hence better suited for the task. In batch adsorption, wood and sludge sample did not reach saturation point and showed lower sorption capacity from literature. Also, the sorption capacity trend which was expected to increase did not match with previous data for sludge sample. This could be due to lower adsorbent quantity and Ciprofloxacin concentration used and variation in biochar composition especially sludge. Future study with changing suggested variables like mass of biochar, concentration of Ciprofloxacin, and changing temperature etc will help fully understand its sorption capacity and eventually support in application of biochar in adsorption of ciprofloxacin. | |
