Antibiotic removal from wastewater by adsorption method

Antibiotics, are chemicals that reduce or inhibit the proliferation and growth of microorganisms, and are useful in the treatment of human infectious diseases, the livestock industry, and aquaculture. After administration, antibiotics are only partially metabolized in the body, while the remaining antibiotics are excreted. The sewage treatment plants of municipal systems and pharmaceutical businesses are not efficient enough to remove these antimicrobials. Removal of ampicillin from pharmaceutical wastewater is very expensive, but this wastewater must be properly treated before it is released into the environment. Among the existing processes for the treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater, the adsorption process is accepted as an effective and efficient method. In the present study, epichlorhydrin cross-linked chitosan particles were kept in carboxymethyl cellulose solution before cross-linked with citric acid. Ampicillin adsorption studies were carried out with the obtained particles. In addition, the characterization of the particles was carried out by FTIR, BET, and SEM/EDX analyses.