Removal of sulfamethoxazole sulfonamide antibiotic from water by high silica zeolites: A study of the involved host–guest interactions by a combined structural, spectroscopic, and computational approach

•Irreversible adsorption of sulfamethoxazole from water by zeolite Y, mordenite, and ZSM-5.•Medium-weak zeolite-antibiotic host–guest cooperative interactions.•Sulfamethoxazole molecules localization into zeolite porosities by Rietveld analysis of XRD data.

Sulfonamide antibiotics are persistent pollutants present in surface and subsurface waters in both agricultural and urban environments. Sulfonamides are of particular concern in the environment because they are known to induce high levels of bacterial resistance. Adsorption of sulfamethoxazole sulfonamide antibiotic into three high silica zeolites (Y, mordenite, and ZSM-5) with pore opening sizes comparable to sulfamethoxazole dimensions is reported. Sulfamethoxazole was almost completely removed from water by zeolite Y and MOR in a few minutes. Adsorption onto ZSM-5 showed an increased kinetics with increasing temperature. Antibiotic sorption was largely irreversible with little antibiotic desorbed. Sulfamethoxazole incorporation and localization into the pore of each zeolite system was defined along with medium-weak and cooperative host–guest interactions in which water molecules play a certain role only in zeolite Y and mordenite.

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