Review: Development and application of porous materials to antibiotic drug adsorption and removal

The misuse of antibiotics resulted in their release into the environment and food chain, leading to environmental pollution and posing a threat to human health. Porous adsorption materials possessed characteristics such as a large specific surface area, high porosity, easy surface modification and novel functionality, which had demonstrated excellent efficacy in removing antibiotics. Adsorption, as a crucial technology for concentrating residual drugs in the environment and food substrates, has garnered significant attention from researchers in recent years. This review provided an overview of the performances of various porous materials (including carbon-based materials, organic porous materials, organic porous polymers, biopolymers, gel materials, composite materials and membrane technologies) as adsorbents for antibiotics removal. It also discussed factors influencing adsorption effectiveness (such as pH, initial concentration of antibiotics, temperature), adsorption mechanisms and the current application and research progress in antibiotic adsorption. Finally, the future research directions and trends were proposed along with suggestions for future research needs. The review offered valuable insights for future studies on isolating, enriching, adsorbing and removing prohibited or restricted antibiotic drugs from environmental samples, water sources, animal-derived foods and biological samples.