Adsorption of Tetracycline by Activated Carbon Fiber

Tetracycline is a series of emerging pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), which has been caught increasing concern in recent years. As a new type of carbon materials, activated carbon fiber (ACF) demonstrates its excellent adsorption performance especially in organic pollutants removal. ACF was used for tetracycline removal by adsorption and the effect of ACF dosage, contact time, salinity, initial pH condition and reaction temperature were investigated. It was observed that the removal rate of TC increased with an increase in the ACF dosage and contact time. The solution salinity could inhibit the TC adsorption onto ACF slightly by competitive adsorption. Acidic conditions were especially favorable for TC removal. The increased reaction temperature could improve TC adsorption to a large extent as well.