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Sustainable production of (Ca/Al) - layered double hydroxide - alginate beads for remediation of water contaminated with amoxicillin antibiotic
 
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Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
 
These authors had equal contribution to this work
 
 
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Anfal Enad Khalaf   

University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
 
 
J. Ecol. Eng. 2026; 27(1)
 
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This work concentrates on the synthesis nano-sized calcium and aluminum layered double hydroxide (LDH) from environmental wastes and industrial by-products. Cement kiln dust (CKD) was used as a source of calcium, and waterworks treatment sludge (WTS) from water treatment plants was used as a source of aluminum. The (Ca/Al)-LDH nanoparticles have synthesized by co-precipitation method to produce a new sorbent. (Ca/Al)-LDH nanoparticles must be immobilized using sodium alginate to obtain the spherical forms named (Ca/Al)-LDH-alginate beads that were tested for the elimination of amoxicillin (AMX) antibiotic from the aquatic environment. The optimal conditions for the production of LDH that achieved the highest adsorption (calcium /aluminum ratio, pH, and the percentage of LDH in alginate beads) were studied to verify its adsorption efficiency. The study demonstrated that it is possible to remove approximately 52% of AMX under optimal synthesis conditions, which include a 1:1 ratio of Ca:Al, 20% LDH in alginate, and pH of 10. The LDH was characterized using SEM, XRD, FT-IR, EDX, TEM, and BET tests. The results demonstrate that the (Ca/Al)-LDH was formed with a unique geometric structure with surface area of 48.55 m2/g. Batch tests demonstrated that more than 94% of AMX can be removed with 90 minutes, pH 3, sorbent amount 0.5 g/50 mL, and speed 250 rpm, for AMX initial concentration 50 mg/L, to achieve the highest sorption capacity of 17.47 mg/g. The pseudo-second order model was used to measure the kinetic tests, and as a result, the removal process will primarily rely on the chemisorption mechanism. The regeneration process proved the possibility of using exhausted beads for ten cycles with efficiency greater than 86%.
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