Effective Removal of Tetracycline Antibiotics from Water using Hybrid Carbon Membranes

Antibiotic residues in drinking water have become a global problem, especially in developing countries. However, effective purification of water contaminated by antibiotics remains a great challenge. Here, we investigated the removing of tetracycline by carbon nanomaterials with different structures and surface functionalities. The result shows that a membrane of thick graphene oxide (GO) and activated carbon (AC) with a thickness of 15 μm can effectively remove 98.9% of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) from water by vacuum filtration. Structural analysis indicated that the AC nanoparticles were uniformly inserted into the GO interstitial sites without any aggregations. Also, GO sheets were loosened by the encapsulated AC nanoparticles, leading to the formation of numerous tiny pores (3–10 nm) that acted as channels for fluid passage, whereas the carbons and chemical groups on the GO surface adsorbed TCH. GO/AC membrane exhibits the best adsorption efficiency among the investigated materials, including pure GO, AC, carbon nanotube (CNT), and CNT/AC and GO/CNT hybrids.