Polymer/activated charcoal coated magnetite for the adsorptive removal of emerging contaminants: Stepwise synthesis via two sequential routes

Emerging contaminants pose great health risks to humans and living organisms, even when released at minute concentrations over prolonged exposure times. In this work, we fabricate nanocomposites based on activated charcoal coated magnetite by incorporating the biopolymers of xylan or pectin into their structure. Two synthesis routes which differ in their sequential steps were investigated. It was demonstrated that the synthesis route affects the morphology and chemical structure of the nanocomposites, as confirmed by SEM imaging and FTIR measurements, respectively. Hence, in turn, it influenced the performance of the nanocomposites in their adsorptive removal for the emerging contaminants of Fluoxetine and Famotidine whose presence in wastewater have been confirmed in several studies.