A chemometric approach based on Box–Behnken and response surface methodology for design and optimization of ciprofloxacin adsorption from water

The overuse of antibiotics, e.g., ciprofloxacin in aquafarming, and therapy activities have increasingly raised their presence in water sources, causing many potential environmental problems. Therefore, developing an efficient optimization technique to handle the pollution of ciprofloxacin is essential. In this study, a chemometric approach based on Box–Behnken and response surface methodology was applied to design and optimize the ciprofloxacin removal. Effect of three factors such as concentration, pH, and adsorbent dose was surveyed. The results revealed that the quadratic model was statistically significant due to P-value < 0.0001 at 95% confidence level. Proposing the optimal conditions, the removal efficiency was rechecked, giving an experimental value of 93.3%, which was very consistent with a predicted value (93.9%). Moreover, kinetic and equilibrium models well obeyed Elovich and Temkin equations, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity was sufficient, at 101.23 mg/g. The key role of electrostatic interaction and π–π interactions in the improvement of ciprofloxacin adsorption was elucidated. We recommend that the chemometric approach based on Box–Behnken and response surface methodology can be a reliable and efficient optimization method in the experimental remediation study.