Porous nanocomposites for sorptive elimination of ibuprofen from synthetic wastewater and its molecular docking studies

Pharmaceuticals are a new developing pollutant that is threatening aquatic ecosystems and impacting numerous
species in the ecosystem. The aim of this study is the green synthesis of TiO2–Fe2O3-Chitosan nanocomposites in
conjunction with Moringa olifera leaves extract and its applicability for ibuprofen removal. Various characterization studies were performed for the synthesized nanocomposites. Box-Behnken design (BBD) is employed to
optimize pH, agitation speed, and composite dosage. Equilibrium results show that adsorption process matches
with Langmuir isotherm, demonstrating adsorption on the nanocomposite’s homogenous surface and follows
pseudo-first-order kinetics. Using the BBD, pH, adsorbent dose, and agitation speed were examined as adsorption
parameters. Ibuprofen elimination was demonstrated to be most successful at a pH of 7.3, using 0.05 g of
nanocomposites at a rotational speed of 200 rpm. Thermodynamic parameters for ibuprofen sorption were
carried out and the ΔH and ΔS was found to be 76.23 & 0.233. Molecular Docking was performed to find the interaction between the pollutant and the nanocomposite. UV–vis spectra confirm the 243 nm absorption band corresponding to the nanocomposite’s surface plasmon resonances. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra relate this band to a group of nanocomposites. The findings of this work emphasize the importance of TiO2–Fe2O3-Chitosan nanocomposites for removing ibuprofen from wastewater.