Facile preparation of metal-organic frameworks-8 (ZIF-8) and its simultaneous adsorption of tetracycline (TC) and minocycline (MC) from aqueous solutions

ZIF-8 nanoparticles were prepared through the simple and facile method at room temperature and subsequently applied for the simultaneous adsorption of two antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and minocycline (MC). The prepared ZIF-8 exhibits regular rhombic dodecahedron having meso and macropores structure with a specific surface area of 1516.06 (m(2)/g), indicating that ZIF-8 could be an ideal adsorbent material for the adsorption of antibiotics. Moreover, the adsorption conditions were optimized in detail. All the characterizations of ZIF-8 after adsorption reveal the successful adsorption of TC and MC on ZIF-8. The adsorption kinetics and isothermal data of both antibiotics fitted well with the pseudo second order and Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorption behaviour of TC and MC on ZIF-8 was based mainly on electrostatics and pi - pi stacking interactions. This study revealed that ZIF-8 could be used as a useful adsorbent in treating wastewater contaminated with multiple antibiotics.