Core–shell TiO2@C ultralong nanotubes with enhanced adsorption of antibiotics

Abstract

As materials capable of adsorbing antibiotics continue to be developed, composite adsorbents have been shown to offer advantages over mono-material adsorbents. In this work, ultralong titanium dioxide@carbon nanotubes were prepared by a simple hydrothermal treatment, followed by carbonization. The composite material is able to adsorb three different categories of antibiotics, including tetracycline (TC), ofloxacin (OFO) and norfloxacin (NFO). The adsorption results show that the adsorption properties of composite materials have been greatly improved compared with single inorganic adsorbent materials, for which the adsorption capacities are 240 mg g⁻¹ (TC), 232 mg g⁻¹ (OFO), and 190 mg g⁻¹ (NFO), respectively. The adsorption mechanism is consistent with a Langmuir pseudo-first-order kinetic model.