Synergetic impact of copper nanoparticles and polyaniline reinforced graphene oxide nanocomposite on the sequestration of tetracycline antibiotic from milk and wastewaters samples

Tetracycline pollution poses a serious threat to both human and animal health, even at very low concentrations. The removal of these antibiotics from ecosystems has gained significant academic and public attention. Herein, tetracycline (TC) antibiotic in different environmental water samples were successfully extracted using copper nanoparticles immobilized-polyaniline modified graphene oxide (Cu/PANI/GO) nanocomposite. The structure and physicochemical properties of the new fabricated nanocomposite were investigated by various analytical techniques including SEM, TEM, EDX, FTIR, Raman spectra, and zeta-potential. It has been found that TC removal efficiency onto Cu/PANI/GO was greatly improved when compared to the native GO, and that it could even achieve a record-high value of 99.6% with 434.78 mg g-1 adsorption capacity. The synergic effect of the supported Cu-NPs and PANI moieties for the TC removal efficiency is about 51.5 +/- 3.9% compared to that for GO. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic model and the Langmuir model, respectively, can provide excellent fits for the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of TC onto Cu/PANI/GO. Five adsorption-desorption cycles resulted in a 4.1% reduction in the removal effectiveness. Through the surface complexation by the Cu-nanoparticles, in addition to the potent hydrogen bond formation with PANI and GO moieties and the 7C-7C interactions of graphene oxide, TC were firmly trapped in the structure of the Cu/PANI/GO nanocomposite. The Cu/PANI/GO nanocomposite was utilized to remove TCs from samples of milk and wastewater.