Preparation of GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF Composite and Efficient Removal of Fleroxacin and Levofloxacin

ABSTRACT In this research, GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF composites were fabricated via a dissolution‐heat method. The GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF composite was characterized using FT‐IR, SEM, XRD, and EDS techniques. The characterization results confirmed the presence of Cu and Cr metallic elements in the composite, and FT‐IR analysis demonstrated that the organic ligands were successfully coordinated with the metal centers. The characterized GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF composite was employed in the removal study of fleroxacin and levofloxacin. The results demonstrate that the addition of 40 mg of the composite to a 40‐ppm levofloxacin solution achieved a removal efficiency of 95.9% within 5 h. Likewise, adding the same amount of composite to a 20‐ppm fleroxacin solution resulted in a maximum removal efficiency of 98.2% over the same time period. The experimental data were examined using both the kinetic model and the isotherm models. The results revealed that the adsorption of both antibiotics onto the GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF composite followed the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model and was most accurately represented by the Langmuir isotherm. The experimental results indicate that the adsorption capacity of the GO/Cu/Cr‐MOF composite for fleroxacin and levofloxacin reaches its maximum within the pH range of 6 and 8.