Harnessing adsorption for efficient and eco-friendly removal of amoxicillin from wastewater

The persistence of amoxicillin (AMX) in aquatic environments remains a pressing concern owing to toxicity and antimicrobial resistance. This study aims to assess current mitigation techniques, evaluate the performance of different adsorbents, analyze trends from existing research, and highlight gaps in current knowledge - with a particular focus on adsorption. Findings revealed that hybrid adsorbents are the most utilized for amoxicillin sorption. The highest adsorption capacity (1111.11 mg/g) was achieved using the UIO-66@Cr-MIL-101 nanohybrid. Predominant adsorption mechanisms include electrostatic interactions, kinetic partitioning, pi-pi stacking, hydrogen bonding, and dipole-dipole interactions. The adsorption process was primarily well-described by the Langmuir model, and the pseudo-second-order model best represented the kinetic data. Zinc oxide-coated carbon nanofiber composite demonstrated the highest number of adsorption-desorption cycles. Future research could leverage computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to better understand adsorbate transport, flow patterns, and adsorption dynamics.