Recent advances on the development and application of magnetic activated carbon and char for the removal of pharmaceutical compounds from waters: A review.

The adsorption of pharmaceutical substances using carbonaceous materials, such as activated carbon (AC), biochar (BC) and hydrochar (HC), has received substantial attention by researchers working on water treatment, due to the simplicity, low-cost and high performance of this process. In order to widen the potentiality of these carbonaceous materials and to overcome some of their limitations, particularly the inefficient separation of powdered formulations from treated water, the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles has been explored. The recovery of magnetic carbon materials (MCM) from the treated water can be attained by applying an external magnetic field, avoiding inefficient and costly filtration and centrifugation processes, typically applied in the case of non-magnetic carbonaceous adsorbents. In the last ten years, some work has been devoted to the preparation of MCM specifically from AC (MCACM), biochar (MCBCM) and hydrochar (MCHCM). This review aims to present the different aspects of using MCM in water treatment, namely in the removal of pharmaceutical compounds. The synthesis routes used to produce MCM, their physical, morphologic and chemical features, and their application in the removal of these micro-organic contaminants from water will be assessed. The advantages and disadvantages of using MCM in water treatment, and their comparative performance with the carbonaceous non-magnetic precursors will be also discussed in this review.