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• Hierarchically porous carbon (GHPC) was synthesized by molten salt method. • GHPC was used as an adsorbent for diclofenac (DFC). • Maximum adsorption capacity of GHPC was 250 mg/g. • Hydrogen bonding was responsible for DFC uptake. • GHPC could be regenerated after adsorption, showing superior reusability. Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) are emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) that pose a serious peril to both aquatic biota and mankind's health. The development of novel adsorbent materials for the effectual treatment of PPCPs-included wastewater has become one of the foremost research issues in the environmental research area. In this work, a hierarchical carbon material (GHPC), produced through the simple and effective molten salt route adopting glucose and the eutectic mixture (KCl/ZnCl 2) as the carbon precursor and the pore generator, respectively, was applied in adsorption of sodium diclofenac, as a representative of organic contaminants of emerging concern, from aqueous solution. GHPC manifested superior adsorption performance towards DFC, which was believed to stem from its high surface area and total pore volume, hierarchically porous texture, and the presence of plentiful available functional groups. Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the pseudo-second-order kinetics were found to be appropriate to represent the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics, respectively. Hydrogen bonding interaction was thought to be the main mechanism underlying DFC (as H-bond donor) adsorption onto GHPC (as H-bond acceptor). The impacts of the co-existing cations and anions on the adsorptive removal of DFC were additionally scrutinized. Finally, GHPC demonstrated good reusability properties that qualify it for the practical remediation of PPCPs-included wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of high quality activated carbon from inexpensive, abundant and sustainable feedstocks such as agro-waste materials with improved adsorption capacity towards pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in wastewater has lately become one of the principal focuses in the environmental research. Herein, porous activated carbon (SCB-AC) has been produced from sugar cane bagasse, one of the most prevalent agro-waste materials in Egypt, through a facile single-step ZnCl 2 activation and then used for the adsorptive removal of diclofenac sodium (DFC), as a representative PPCP, out of aqueous solution. Techniques such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, N 2 adsorption-desorption measurements, FTIR, SEM and HRTEM have been conducted to study the structural characteristics and the surface chemistry of the synthesized SCB-AC. SCB-AC not only exhibited fast adsorption rate and high binding capacity towards DFC but also remarkable recyclability via simple washing of the DFC-saturated adsorbent with acetone. The equilibrium and kinetics aspects of DFC adsorption onto SCB-AC were explored and implied the aptness of the Langmuir and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models for interpreting the adsorption of DFC onto SCB-AC. Additionally, the influence of pH on the adsorbent surface charge and DCF adsorption capacity was investigated to reveal the presumable mechanism underlying the current adsorption process. All the results demonstrated that SCB-AC is a brilliant adsorbent for the effectual removal of PPCPs from contaminated effluents. Unlabelled Image • High quality porous activated carbon (SCB-AC) was produced from sugar cane bagasse. • SCB-AC was applied for the removal of diclofenac sodium out of aqueous solution. • SCB-AC exhibited high adsorption capacity (315 mg/g) and rapid adsorption kinetics. • SCB-AC had notable reusability (up to 5 times) with simple regeneration procedure. • Adsorption mechanism of diclofenac sodium was elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]