Trimethoprim Antibiotic Adsorption from Aqueous Solution onto Eco-Friendly Zr-Metal Organic Framework Material.

The synthesis of Bio-MOF using aspartic acid as an organic linker and water as a solvent was performed to create an environmentally friendly material. The chemical composition, structure, and morphology of the synthesized zirconium Bio-MOF (MIP-202) was evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The synthesized Bio-MOF was used as an adsorbent for trimethoprim antibiotic as pollutants from an aqueous solution under various operating parameters. The increase in the initial trimethoprim concentration from 2.5 mg/L to 20 mg/L decreased the decontamination efficiency from 77.6% to 35.9% at a solution pH of 7 with 0.5 g/L adsorbent dose after 60 min reaction time. The rise of adsorbent dose from 0.1 g/L to 1.5 g/L increased the removal efficiency from 47.7% to 87.6%. The maximum trimethoprim removal efficiency of 95% was attained at a solution pH of 11. Langmuir and pseudo-second order models described the adsorption process of trimethoprim antibiotic onto zirconium Bio-MOF and the chemo-physical nature of trimethoprim adsorption onto the synthesized zirconium Bio-MOF. Accordingly, it was evident that the prepared zirconium Bio-MOF (MIP-202) is an ecofriendly and efficient adsorbent for antibiotic decontamination from polluted water.