Synergistic effect of electrostatic and coordination interactions for adsorption removal of cephalexin from water using a zirconium-based metal-organic framework.

Antibiotic residues in wastewater have attracted great attention for their potential toxicity to environment. In this work, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (PCN-777) was synthesized as adsorbent to remove cephalexin from water. Attributed to synergistic effect of the electrostatic interaction and coordination interaction between MOF framework and cephalexin, PCN-777 exhibits a high adsorption capacity of 442.48 mg·g-1, which is higher than those of reported adsorbents. The adsorption behavior follows Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order model. Besides, this MOF can be reused via a simple method. Therefore, PCN-777 may have a promising potential application for purification of waste water containing trace antibiotics.