STUDIES ON THE SORPTION OF LEVOFLOXACIN FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS ONTO NANOHYDROXYAPATITE

The present paper involves a study of the adsorption process of the levofloxacin antibiotic from aqueous medium by using the hydroxyapatite nanopowders as adsorbent materials. The monitoring of pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and drug concentration was carried out in batch adsorption experiments. At pH = 7 and ambient temperature, high levofloxacin removal rates of about 95.24 % and 87.32 % for the uncalcined and calcined nanohydroxyapatites, respectively, were obtained. The kinetic studies indicate that the levofloxacin adsorption onto nanohydroxyapatite samples follows a pseudo-second order kinetic model. High levofloxacin adsorption capacities of 157.09 mg/g and 124.52 mg/g were reported for uncalcined and calcined nanohydroxyapatite samples, respectively. Therefore, hydroxyapatite is an efficient adsorbent for antibiotic pollutants able to protect ecological systems.