Adsorption and desorption of oxytetracycline and carbamazepine by multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

We investigated the adsorption-desorption by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of two pharmaceuticals, oxytetracycline (OTC) and carbamazepine (CBZ). The pharmaceuticals demonstrated relatively fast sorption kinetics on MWCNTs. All adsorption isotherms were nonlinear and fit the Polanyi-Manes model (PMM). The single point adsorption coefficient (K) values for OTC were more than 1 order of magnitude higher than those for CBZ on corresponding MWCNTs. The adsorbed volume capacity (Q(0)) and K values of PMM showed a significant relationship with surface areas and the meso- and micropore volume of MWCNTs for both chemicals. Depending on the MWCNT outer diameter, 13.8-25.2% and 62.7-90.6% of initially adsorbed OTC and CBZ, respectively, were desorbed after 200 h. The rate of desorption of both OTC and CBZ depended upon pH and the quantity of initially adsorbed pharmaceuticals, as well as aggregation in the case of OTC.