Pharmaceuticals such as acetaminophen are increasingly detected in the aquatic environment and represent a persistent risk to ecosystems and human health. This study reports the fabrication of nano-iron-loaded pomegranate peel powder (NIL-PP)and its application as a low-cost, magnetically separable adsorbent for the removal of acetaminophen (ACT) from aqueous solutions. Successful loading of nanoscale iron species onto the bio-char matrix was confirmed by SEM-EDS, XRD (average crystallite size is 14 nm), FTIR, BET, TGA, and VSM (18.5 emu/g), indicating a heterogeneous, porous, and magnetically responsive adsorbent. Batch adsorption results indicated that the kinetic data are best described by the pseudo-second-order model, while the equilibrium data fit well with the Freundlich isotherm, suggesting that the adsorption process is predominantly governed by chemisorption occurring as multilayer coverage on energetically heterogeneous surface sites. The optimal removal was observed at an adsorbent dosage of 1 g/L, near neutral pH, an initial ACT concentration of 15 mg/L. The removal rate of ACT exceeded 95.29% within 180 min. Thermodynamic analysis indicates the adsorption is exothermic (ΔH° ≈ −47.13 kJ/mol) and proceeds with overall spontaneous behaviour under test conditions. The NIL-PP material retained a substantial fraction of its capacity (64.33%), even after four consecutive cycles and can be readily separated from water by magnetic collection. This result from this work emphasize the potential of NIL-PP as a suitable adsorbent to be used on a large scale for the environmental remediation of pharmaceutical pollutants in an environmentally sustainable and economically viable manner.

Pharmaceutical residues in the water have become a growing environmental concern because of their potential ecological and human health effects and their persistence. The Zn-Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) were prepared by the co-precipitation method, and their efficiency was tested as an adsorbent for the elimination of fusidic acid (FA) from aqueous solution. Characterization of the synthesized material was done by FTIR, SEM, XRD, EDS, BET, and TGA. The parameters affecting adsorption performance, such as pH, dosage of the adsorbent, contact time, initial concentration of FA and temperature, were investigated by batch adsorption experiments. The most efficient removal was obtained in 210 min at the optimum conditions of FA adsorbent dosage (1.25 g/L), agitation speed (250 rpm), concentration (20 mg/L), pH 5, and temperature (20 ± 1 °C), and showed the best agreement with the PSO model. Kinetic analysis suggested the PSO model best fitted the experimental data, while isotherm studies showed good agreement with the Freundlich model, indicating a heterogeneous adsorption behavior. Thermodynamic analysis shows that adsorption process was thermodynamically favorable. Besides, the reusability and structural stability of the adsorbent improved after calcination treatment, whereas the adsorption rate was slightly decreased. The results indicated that the Zn-Mg-Al LDH is a promising and economical adsorbent for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from aqueous stream.