Biomaterial-based flower-like MnO₂@ carbon microspheres for rapid adsorption of amoxicillin from wastewater

The selection and preparation of materials is very important for the green treatment of wastewater. In our study, MnO₂ nanosheets were in-situ grown on biomass carbon microspheres (BCM) to format flower-like MnO₂@carbon microspheres (CMn) adsorption composites. Amoxicillin (AMX) was adopted as model pollutant, and its adsorption was investigated as function of the contact time, AMX concentration, adsorbent dosage, and pH. The highest adsorption capacity of CMn was 16.094 mg/g in neutral medium. The adsorption isotherms were fitted using the Langmuir model. The kinetics of AMX adsorption was determined to follow the pseudo-first-order model. Recycle experiments indicated that CMn exhibited high adsorption efficiency (>80%) after four cycles. Therefore, the as-prepared CMn can be a promising material for removing pollutants form wastewater in the future.