Removal of pharmaceuticals from aqueous medium by alginate/polypyrrole/ZnFe 2 O 4 beads via magnetic field enhanced adsorption.

The physicochemical and structural characteristics of the magnetic materials can be modulable due to exposition to a magnetic field, which allows, for example, to enhance its adsorption performance. In this sense, this study describes the preparation of magnetic beads of alginate/polypyrrole/ZnFeO (Alg/PPy/ZnFeO) and investigates the effect of an external magnetic field (EMF) on their adsorption performance towards two overconsumed drugs, acetaminophen (ACT) and ibuprofen (IBU). Characterization analyses confirmed the composite formation and magnetic nature of Alg/PPy/ZnFeO. Conversely to the pristine beads (Alg/PPy), the presence of an EMF altered the swelling and pH behavior of the magnetic beads, indicating that these properties are affected by this external stimulus. Batch experiments revealed that the amount of ACT and IBU adsorbed by Alg/PPy/ZnFeO in 60-70 min is appreciably high (106.7 ad 108.2 mg/g). The presence of an EMF modulated the structure of Alg/PPy/ZnFeO beads enhancing their adsorption capacity towards ACT and IBU by 14% and 12% compared to Alg/PPy. Kinetic analysis revealed that the adsorption of both drugs on Alg/PPy/ZnFe2O4 followed a pseudo-second-order. Besides, the adsorption mechanism was fitted by the Freundlich isotherm. Reuse experiments showed that the magnetic beads keep a high adsorption capacity for both drugs even after ten consecutive reuse cycles. The results presented here suggest that magnetic-responsive materials like Alg/PPy/ZnFeO are prominent and modulable tools for improving the treatment of water/wastewater containing this class of contaminants.