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TetrabromobisphenolA is a well-known member of the brominated flame retardant group and is widely used as a highly effective fire-retardant additive in electronic and electrical equipment. TBBPA is commonly found in various environmental sources and can be harmful to human health. This study presents a simple approach to preparing a magnetic nanocomposite, offering a straightforward method that results in consistent quality and low resource consumption. The nanocomposite has a high surface-to-volume ratio for the removal of tetrabromobisphenolA. Various characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, EDX, FESEM, VSM, TEM, and BET analyses were used to characterize the Fe–S nanoparticles and Fe–S/CuS. The results showed that Fe–S/CuS nanocomposite successfully removed over 97% of the initial TBBPA (15 mg L−1) under optimized conditions determined by RSM, such as a contact time of 15 min, pH of 7, Fe–S/CuS nanocomposite dosage of 0.69 g L−1, and salt concentration of 0.10%. The RSM analysis provided a second-order polynomial model with a confidence level of 93% (F = 29.58; p < 0.0001) to predict the TBBPA removal efficiency at various concentrations. In the adsorption kinetic studies, the second-order kinetic model provided the best fit for the experimental data. Additionally, Fe–S/CuS nanocomposite shows great potential for practical applications and environmental remediation efforts, making it a valuable asset for real-sample use in environmental settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drugs, especially antibiotics, as a group of emerging contaminants, pose a serious threat to the environment and aquatic ecosystems due to their adverse effects, cumulative properties, and developing drug resistancy. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the removal efficiency of tetracycline (TC) antibiotic from aqueous solutions using photocatalytic process in the presence of magnetic iron sulfide (Fe-S/CuS) nanoparticles on a laboratory scale. The magnetic nanocomposite was first characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, vibration sampling magnetometer, Field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, diffuse reflection spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. Factors, such as pH, reaction contact time, nanocomposite dose, and contaminant concentration on the removal efficiency were studied. All the experiments were performed at room temperature under UV-A light. The results of this study indicated that the highest removal efficiency of TC was obtained at optimum pH of 7. The results also showed that in the initial concentration of TC antibiotic (20 mg/L), the removal efficiency increased by increasing contact time and also by increasing the dose of the desired nanocomposite, the removal efficiency first increased and then decreased. Moreover, the synthesized nanocomposite had the ability to be reused with an 18% reduction in the removal efficiency in five consecutive cycles. Finally, the results of this study showed the acceptable efficiency of Fe-S/CuS nanocomposite in photocatalytic removal of TC antibiotic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]