Modified activated carbons from potato peels as green environmental-friendly adsorbents for the treatment of pharmaceutical effluents

The aim of this work is to use environmental-friendly materials (low-cost) as adsorbents for the treatment of pharmaceutical effluents. A really difficult category of environmental pollutants is that consisted of pharmaceutical compounds. Many of these compounds are not completely removed by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and consequently they are detectable in WWTP effluents, surface waters and ground and drinking water all over the world. Therefore, the environmental impact of drugs/compounds is crucial. Activated carbon is the most promising adsorbent material, presenting high adsorption capacity for many pollutants (dyes, metals etc.). However, the need to turn on more environmental-friendly materials leads to the use of low-cost ones derived from agricultural sources. In the present study, potato peels (supplied as wastes from restaurants) were used to produce samples of carbons after (i) pyrolysis or (ii) hydrothermally treatment. After activation with KOH and modification with oxidation agents, the aforementioned materials were used for the removal of two drug compounds (dorzolamide and pramipexole) from synthetic aqueous effluents. The adsorption evaluation was done with a series of adsorption-desorption experiments studying major parameters as the effect of pH, temperature, initial drug concentration, contact time and regeneration ability (desorption pH, cycles of reuse). The characterization was realized with SEM images and FTIR spectroscopy.