Enhancement of the adsorption capacity of the light-weight expanded clay aggregate surface for the metronidazole antibiotic by coating with MgO nanoparticles: Studies on the kinetic, isotherm, and effects of environmental parameters

•The MgO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and then used to coat the LECA.•Coating the LECA with MgO enhanced the adsorption capacity of metronidazole by 33%.•Up to 84.55 mg/g of sorption capacity was achieved under optimum conditions.•Foreign ions effects on the sorption rate is ranked as carbonate>nitrate>hardness.•The adsorbent studied revealed efficient sorption performance toward metronidazole.

The synthesized MgO nanoparticles were used to coat the light-weight expanded clay aggregates (LECA) and as a metronidazole (MNZ) adsorbent. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) techniques were employed to study the surface morphology and characteristics of the adsorbents. MgO/LECA clearly revealed the advantages of the nanocomposite particles, showing high specific surface area (76.12 m2/g), significant adsorption sites and functional groups. Between pH 5 and 9, the MNZ sorption was not significantly affected. Kinetic studies revealed that the MNZ adsorption closely followed the Avrami model, with no dominant process controlling the sorption rate. The study of the effects of foreign ions revealed that the addition of carbonate raised the MNZ removal efficiency of LECA by 8% and the total removal of MNZ by MgO/LECA. Furthermore, nitrate and hardness only marginally influenced the MNZ removal efficiency and their effects can be ranked in the order of carbonate>nitrate>hardness. The isotherm adsorption of MNZ was best fitted with the Langmuir model enlighten the monolayer MNZ adsorption on the homogeneous LECA and MgO/LECA surfaces. The maximum adsorption capacity under optimum conditions was enhanced from 56.31 to 84.55 mg/g for LECA and MgO/LECA, respectively. These findings demonstrated that the MgO/LECA nanocomposite showed potential as an efficient adsorbent for MNZ removal.

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