Application of Alumina-coated Carbon Nanotubes in Removal of Tetracycline from Aqueous Solution

The alumina-coated multi walled carbon nanotubes (Al2O3-coated MWCNTs) was used for removal of Tetracycline (TC) from aqueous solution in batch systems. The adsorption of TC occurred by studying the effects of adsorbent amount, TC concentration, contact time and temperature. The results suggested the adsorption capacity increased with increasing temperature. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed using three widely applied isotherms: Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin. The results revealed that Langmuir isotherm fit the experimental results well. Kinetic analyses were conducted using pseudo-first and second-order models and the intraparticle diffusion model. The regression results showed that the adsorption kinetics were more accurately represented by pseudo-second-order model.